0
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ordered the counsel for former army chief Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg on Wednesday to furnish details of bank accounts allegedly used to finance politicians to engineer the 1990 general election.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, noted that Gen Beg had taken a position in a statement submitted to the court that he was in the know of certain bank accounts maintained by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), though not misused. Advocate Muhammad Akram Sheikh, representing Gen Beg, said his client had nothing to do with the use of funds and his statement should be seen in the perspective of other statements. The court is hearing a petition filed in 1996 by Tehrik-i-Istiqlal chief Air Marshal Asghar Khan requesting it to look into allegations that the ISI had financed many politicians in the 1990 elections by dishing out Rs140 million to bolster the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and prevent Benazir Bhutto’s PPP from winning.
Comparing the role of Gen Beg with that of incumbent Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the chief justice observed: “We should give due credit to the institution (of the armed forces). Thank God, there has been a democratic dispensation in the country for the past four years and despite incidents like the May 2 Abbottabad US raid and acts of terrorism, the system was not derailed.
“Look, Gen Kayani is also sitting there. We should not discredit our institutions; the credit goes to them. In every emergency situation like floods, the army is called in.”
The court allowed Salman Akram Raja, the counsel for Asghar Khan, to get inquiry reports by two commissions on the Habib Bank and the now defunct Mehran Bank from the anchorperson of a private TV channel.
The counsel said the anchorperson had informed him that he was in possession of the reports. He also referred to a statement of former interior minister Naseerullah Babar which contained receipts obtained from the politicians who had received the money. Advocate Salman Raja said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had got Rs50 million from the funds distributed among politicians. Gen Beg continued to receive the “secret money” till 1993, he alleged.
He said Younus Habib, the main character in the scam, knew too much but was not divulging anything. “Enough evidences are on record to proceed with in the matter since two former generals have submitted their affidavits while Gen Beg himself has given a statement that the ISI at that time operated those bank accounts,” the counsel said.
At the outset, Attorney General Irfan Qadir informed the court that as per its directives, he had held a meeting with the interior secretary, but no record of the two missing inquiry reports was found in the ministry, except a report which was based on memories of then FIA director and incumbent Interior Minister, Rehman Malik.
Mr Qadir said he was trying his best to dig out the reports in the ministries of interior and law. Naveeda Noor, director (legal) at the defence ministry, submitted a sealed report by the Intelligence Bureau over allegations of use of secret funds during 2008-09 to dislodge the Punjab government. The court ordered its office to keep the report in safe custody.
The court also allowed IB Director General Aftab Sultan to become a party in the case and submit a reply to allegations of use of funds published in an English daily.
