Secret funds case: Irked by absence, apex court summons ex-IB chief again

Tariq Lodhi directed to submit reply over money allegedly drawn by PPP govt in 2008-2009.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has, once again, issued notices to former  director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) Tariq Lodhi to appear before the court in the IB secret funds case.

Taking serious notice of Lodhi’s absence, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry asked IB’s Law Officer Naveeda Noor whether they had informed the former DG about the court’s earlier notice. Noor replied in the affirmative but added that Lodhi was serving in the UK. Lodhi is currently posted as the General Manager of the National Database and Registration (NADRA) in the UK.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Chaudhry, was hearing the suo motu notice regarding withdrawal of IB secret funds between 1988 and 1990 and 2008-2009 allegedly for political purposes.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government allegedly withdrew over Rs100 million from IB’s secret funds from 1988 to 1990 when a no-confidence motion was brought against then prime minister Benazir Bhutto for general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

The court had issued notices to Lodhi inquiring about the utilisation of Rs270 million allegedly drawn by the PPP government from IB’s secret funds to topple the Punjab government in 2008-2009. The notice, issued through the NADRA chairman as well as the interior and foreign secretaries, sought the physical appearance of Lodhi before the court.



During Tuesday’s hearing, the apex court also expressed its annoyance over IB’s failure to submit records of distribution of Rs3 million in 1999 to a journalist who also happened to be a government servant at the time.

The court also ordered the incumbent IB chief to submit a comprehensive reply regarding the withdrawal and distribution of  Rs 400 million in a short span of time.

Noor submitted a report on the distribution of money from IB’s secret funds but the court expressed its dissatisfaction over it. She also informed the court that records are being traced and would be submitted to the court soon.

Meanwhile, the finance secretary submitted a secret letter regarding the withdrawal of money from IB funds, towards which the court expressed satisfaction and directed the office to keep it in the file.

Also during proceedings, another former IB director-general Masood Sharif Khan, who had also been directed by the court to submit a report regarding the secret funds, said he could only submit a report on the basis of his memory. Furthermore, he told the bench that at the time he was IB’s Joint Director Internal and not DG.

During proceedings, The Express Tribune’s correspondent Asad Kharal, on whose story the court took suo motu notice against the IB, stated that Lodhi should be asked how Rs400 million was withdrawn from the bureau’s accounts within a two-month period. The case has been adjourned till January 23.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2013.