ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: The Supreme Court may finally take up on Feb 29 the long pending petition of Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan in which he has accused the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of bribing politicians.

Apparently, the case has been fixed on the growing demand from certain quarters to hear the matter so that the politicians and political groups who received money from the agency are punished.

Asghar Khan, who had formed Tehrik-i-Istiqlal, had filed the constitutional petition before the Supreme Court, requesting it to look into the allegations that the ISI had financed several politicians in the 1990 elections to create the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and block Benazir Bhutto’s PPP from winning.

In response to the petition, Lt-Gen Asad Durrani, the former director general of ISI, submitted an affidavit in the court, giving details of the amount he had authorised to be paid among politicians. Former prime minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s name also featured among the recipients of money.—Staff Reporter