Even though the Supreme Court has tasked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) with probing politicians who allegedly received money from the military during the 1990 elections, its detailed judgment on the Asghar Khan petition also puts the agency’s credibility at stake.
In its detailed judgment released on Thursday (November 8), the apex court incorporated two affidavits of former chief of Mehran Bank Younus Habib, alleged to have arranged money for the politicians. His affidavits, however, revealed that the FIA had, in fact, forced him to arrange the money.
In its short on Oct 19, the court had directed the FIA to investigate politicians who allegedly received money during the 1990 elections. The agency was, however, awaiting the detailed order before initiating the probe.
Younus Habib’s statement
Habib alleged that it was under the FIA’s pressure that he arranged money from Habib Bank in 1990 to rig the elections on the directions of then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg.
He claimed he was arrested and kept in an FIA cell in Karachi for five or six days and was pressured by some FIA officials to arrange the money by “hook or crook” – a term, he added, was frequently used by the then president and army chief.
Habib added that during his time in FIA’s custody, he decided to arrange the money at any cost and was bailed courtesy of then Sindh chief minister Jam Sadiq Ali. He said that being a government servant, he had no option but to obey the president and the army chief in the name of “supreme national interest”.
Rs1.48b sanction by Habib Bank
Another important aspect revealed in Habib’s affidavits was that “loans worth Rs1.48 billion were sanctioned by the Provincial Committee and Executive Committee of Habib Bank Limited.”
Habib also gave a break-up of this amount: out of Rs1.48 billion, only Rs140 million were distributed among politicians, while the remaining money was transferred to the Army Welfare Scheme.
Habib said he did not know the details, but said the remaining amount was utilised for purchase of properties.
According to details, Gen Beg received Rs30 million for his organisation, ‘Friends’. The apex court had given army authorities time to present details on whether the money was invested in army schemes or transferred to Gen Beg’s organisation, but according to the court’s detailed judgment, defence authorities failed to produce details of the accounts where the money was deposited.
Roedad Khan’s influence over FIA
In his statement, Younus Habib also revealed that he was informed by the FIA that he was arrested on the orders of Roedad Khan. Habib said Khan initially pressured him to lodge a complaint against President Asif Ali Zardari, which he refused.
He claimed that Khan was probably heading a cell to initiate cases against Zardari and late prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
While talking to The Express Tribune, Khan confirmed that he was responsible for pursuing cases against Zardari and Benazir while he was heading the defunct National Ehtisab Bureau. Khan said the courts vindicated Benazir and Zardari despite concrete evidence of corruption against them.
However, he added that he was not aware of the existence of any election cell in the Presidency.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2012.
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