New turn: Presidency made party in Asghar Khan case
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday accepted former air chief Asghar Khan’s request to make the office of the President of Pakistan a party in the case pertaining to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) funding politicians in the 1990 elections.
During the proceedings, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed no political cell should operate at the presidency since the president is the head of the country and the supreme commander of its armed forces.
He said documents obtained by the court revealed that a political cell worked under then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan during the 1990 elections. The Chief Justice added that former president Farooq Leghari, former premier Benazir Bhutto and Maj Gen Naseerullah Babar held meetings regarding the cell and forging an alliance between political parties during their tenure.
The SC’s short order held it appropriate to issue notices to the president’s secretary in this regard. “We consider it appropriate to implead the presidency through the Secretary to President of Pakistan,” the court order read.
The court directed its office to send a copy of this order and other unclassified documents in the case to the president’s office, along with a letter informing them that the president’s secretary had been made a party in the case. It also directed appropriate arrangements for the president’s secretary before court if the latter desired or was advised to do so.
Asghar Khan’s counsel Salman Akram Raja consented to filing the application to make the president’s office a respondent in the case. Agreeing with the court’s decision, Raja said it is appropriate to issue notices to the president’s office since the matter was directly linked with it.
Independent observers say the court’s decision has a direct impact on incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari, who already faces legal proceedings over occupying both the seat of the President of Pakistan and the co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
Since the president is the supreme commander of the country’s armed forces, his involvement in political activities will have a direct influence on the services’ chiefs, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain had observed during the proceedings.
At the same time, Roedad Khan – who along with Ijlal Haider Zaidi headed the presidency’s political cell during Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s tenure – also requested the court to make him a party in the case on Thursday. His request was granted and he was asked to appear before the court in the next hearing.
“If Ijlal Haider Zaidi comes forward to become a party in the case, we can consider his application too,” CJ Chaudhry told Akram Sheikh, former army chief Gen Aslam Beg’s counsel.
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Lt Gen Asif Yasin Malik submitted a signed letter to the court maintaining there was no political cell operating in the ISI.
Similarly, Interior Secretary Khawaja Sadiq Akbar submitted a statement informing the court that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) is under the Cabinet Division’s control and as such the department issued a notice to the Cabinet Secretary along with copies of orders and directions to certify whether a political cell operated in the agency currently or in the past. The Cabinet Secretary was asked to submit a reply to the SC Registrar before the next hearing.
The court also expressed concern over the absence of the federation’s lawyers from the case hearing. It adjourned the case till October 15.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2012.
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The role of the spy agencies in Pakistan’s politics, as indicated by the Asghar Khan case, did not allow the political process to unfold naturally through free, fair and consistent elections. The trail of the ISI’s role leading to the presidency does offer an opportunity to clear the air, prevent political cells operating within the intelligence agencies and presidency, if they are found to exist still, and cleanse the Augean stables of manipulated political processes that bear little resemblance to a credible and clean democratic system.
@Hamid Ahmed: FYI, in Pakistan the President maybe elected by the NA but it is an apolitical office. Zardari's plan was to oversee and control the next election from the presidency to pull any strings he wanted.
What the SC has done is ensured that no tampering of the next general elections can take place from the Presidency, which is not suppose to be doing such antics in the first place!
Under normal circumstances I would not have believed this but under current CJP, it was expected. He is heading this hearing for a long time, have never called culprits, like Nawaz Sharif and company. He insulted the witnesses. This case was about how peoples money was used to deny PPP the right to get elected and govern - fundamental right of people of Pakistan. CJP has turned it into a trial of PPP. This is justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry style. I am not a fan of Zardari, but office of president is a political office, president is elected by politicians and politicians become president. Here in USA, Obama is president and supreme commander of armed forces, and he is politician, no one ever question a president for being a politician and his ability to be a supreme commander. Under CJP Iftikhar, in Pakistan "ganga ulti behti hai".