Asghar Khan petition: No records of ISI political cell says Secretary Presidency

The Supreme Court bench, granted 48 hours to the President House to submit a comprehensive report.

ISLAMABAD:

With the Supreme Court still looking for solid evidence of an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed political cell in the President House, yet another obstacle appeared before the apex court in the Asghar Khan case on Monday.

A representative of Secretary to the President House Asif Hayat told the court that no record of such a political cell’s existence could be found during the tenure of former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

The President House office then sought time from a three-judge bench to submit a detailed report in this regard, after going through decades-old records. The bench, led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, granted 48 hours to the President House to submit a comprehensive report.

Counsel for former air chief Asghar Khan, Salman Akram Raja, said the material submitted before the bench was sufficient admission of “the gross violation of constitutional parameters”.

Raja also questioned the role of military authorities at the time who took steps without constitutional and legislative backing. He emphasised that every country has a framework for the operation of a secret agency. Asghar Khan’s lawyer contended that the action was also a violation of Article 17 of the Constitution (which refers to a transparent political process).

Justice Chaudhry remarked that former ISI chief Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani’s disbursement of funds was an unconstitutional act. Durrani, in his statement, had said the money was distributed by Brigadier Hamid Saeed and that it was done in the larger interest of the country upon the directives of the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The chief justice, however, questioned his use of the phrase “national interest” on Monday, saying the term should not be abused.

Justice Khilji Arif Hussain also took exception to Durrani’s statement, saying, “It is too much – we are fed up with the terminology of national interest – the actual national interest is to adhere to the Constitution of Pakistan.”

The chief justice said national interest was fulfilled when the country’s internal matters were handled by the government and its borders were protected by the armed forces, and said that questionable political activities occurred when the president was in a position of more power than the prime minister, post 1977.

The apex court, on the other hand, also maintained that the distribution of money among politicians in order to rig the 1990 elections was an act committed by some individuals, and the entire army, as an institution, could not be blamed, adding that there should be respect for all institutions.

In addition, the bench instructed Muhammad Munir Paracha, counsel for former Habib Bank Limited (HBL) executive Younis Habib to present his arguments today (Tuesday).  Durrani was also directed to submit a synopsis of his stance before the court.

Roedad denies allegations

Roedad Khan – who along with Ijlal Haider Zaidi allegedly headed the presidency’s election cell during Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s tenure – told the court that he was not aware of money being distributed among politicians.

He claimed that Durrani’s statement was not based on facts, adding that the former ISI chief had never conveyed any message from Ghulam Ishaq to him about funding political parties. He denied the existence of any political or electoral cell in the President House in 1990, and rebuffed allegations of partaking in political activities. edited by heba islam

(Read: Politics and the military)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2012.