Asghar Khan petition: Attorney general fails to produce crucial reports
AG tells Supreme Court he does not know where former inquiry commission reports of Habib and Mehran Bank are.
ISLAMABAD:
Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq failed to produce the former inquiry commission reports of Habib Bank and Mehran Bank during the hearing of Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan’s petition on Friday, reported Express News.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a five-member bench, inquired from the attorney general regarding the inquiry reports, to which he replied that he was not aware of their whereabouts.
The chief justice remarked that the reports are of ‘very important’ nature and they need to be declassified, and in order to do this, the court can order the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) to look into the matter and find the reports.
The bench ordered the attorney general, law ministry and law division to produce the reports in the next hearing on March 23, and also sought replies from the federal government.
The Express Tribune’s reporter and executive editor were also told that they would be served notices in relation to the story published in the paper titled, Misappropriation: Govt withdrew millions from Intelligence Bureau’s account, which disclosed that the current government had withdrawn Rs270 million from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) fund without specifying the reasons.
The bench added that according to the law, if a statement is not rejected by the accused, then it is considered to be true, and the IB has not denied the accusations as yet.
Director-General IB Aftab Sultan also appeared before the court during the hearing, and said that he could not verify the news report.
Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq failed to produce the former inquiry commission reports of Habib Bank and Mehran Bank during the hearing of Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan’s petition on Friday, reported Express News.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a five-member bench, inquired from the attorney general regarding the inquiry reports, to which he replied that he was not aware of their whereabouts.
The chief justice remarked that the reports are of ‘very important’ nature and they need to be declassified, and in order to do this, the court can order the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) to look into the matter and find the reports.
The bench ordered the attorney general, law ministry and law division to produce the reports in the next hearing on March 23, and also sought replies from the federal government.
The Express Tribune’s reporter and executive editor were also told that they would be served notices in relation to the story published in the paper titled, Misappropriation: Govt withdrew millions from Intelligence Bureau’s account, which disclosed that the current government had withdrawn Rs270 million from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) fund without specifying the reasons.
The bench added that according to the law, if a statement is not rejected by the accused, then it is considered to be true, and the IB has not denied the accusations as yet.
Director-General IB Aftab Sultan also appeared before the court during the hearing, and said that he could not verify the news report.