LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency has recorded the statements of more than half of the people named in the Asghar Khan case and it is likely to complete its investigation by the end of this year, sources privy to the development told Dawn on Thursday.

Although the pace of FIA’s investigation is slow, the agency blames ‘non-cooperation’ by some ‘well-known’ people for the delay.

The FIA had launched the probe into the Asghar Khan case by the end of 2013, almost a year after the Supreme Court ordered an investigation into Rs140million distribution (among politicians and others) to stop the PPP from coming to power in 1990.

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The interior ministry had constituted a four-member team of senior FIA officials (Ghalib Bandesha (head), Dr Usman Anwar, Qudratullah Murawat and Najaf Mirza) for the probe.

After his transfer, Mr Bandesha has now been replaced by FIA Karachi director Shahid Hayat. A couple of other members have also been transferred while FIA director economic crimes Zahir Ahmed has become part of the team.

“So far the FIA has recorded the statements of retired Air Marshal Asghar Khan, former ISI chief retired Gen Asad Durrani, Mehran Bank owner Younis Habib, advocate Yousuf Memon (who allegedly gave money among others to the veteran politician Javed Hashmi), veteran journalist Altaf Hassan Qureshi, over a dozen former government employees and officials of ISI and MI (military intelligence),” a source said.

Seasoned politicians Abida Hussain and former speaker of the National Assembly Fakhr Imam have refused to appear before the FIA team to record their statements. “We have sent three summons to the couple but they are not responding,” the sources said, adding that it would now summon them through a court order.

Abida Hussain, a former federal minister and ambassador to the US, told Dawn that the FIA team had contacted her by telephone and asked her to visit the agency office to record her statement regarding the Asghar Khan case. “I told the FIA team to visit me as I would not appear before it (in its office). If the FIA wants to interview me it should better come to my residence,” she said. She also declared that she had not received any FIA summons.

About her husband, Abida Hussain said: “Fakhar Imam has nothing to do with the Asghar Khan case. Why he is summoned (by FIA).”

Former army chief retired Gen Aslam Baig has not yet responded to the FIA’s questionnaire in this regard. “We had requested Baig Sahib for his time for interview but he declined. He told us that the matter was technical and he needed a written query to respond. We entertained his request but we are still awaiting his reply,” a source said.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Javed Hashmi and Ghulam Mustafa Khar (former Punjab governor) are the three main persons on the list with whom the FIA team plans to talk to in this case,” a source said, adding after recording the statements of those left, the FIA would submit its report to the interior ministry probably by the end of this year.

Sources said the FIA was optimistic that the prime minister would spare some time for the FIA team as the probe could not be completed without his side of the story. The prime minister’s spokesman Musadiq Malik could not be reached despite repeated efforts because he was in the United States. Another official (at the prime minister office) showed his unwillingness to talk on this ‘sensitive’ matter.

The Supreme Court, in Oct 2012, had ordered legal proceedings against a former head of intelligence and former army chief over allegations that politicians were bankrolled to stop the Pakistan People’s Party of Benazir Bhutto from coming to power after winning the 1990 elections.

The apex court’s decision came 16 years after retired Air Marshal Asghar Khan filed the petition, requesting the court to look into allegations that the Inter-Services Intelligence had financed many politicians in the 1990 election by dishing out Rs140 million to create the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and stop Benazir Bhutto’s PPP from coming to power. The petition was based on an affidavit of Gen Durrani.

A three-judge bench comprising then chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain ruled in its short order that there was “ample evidence” to suggest that the 1990 election was rigged and that a political cell maintained by the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan supported the formation of the IJI to stop the PPP from coming to power again. The ruling said Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Baig and Durrani violated the Constitution.

The Supreme Court ruled that “the general election held in the year 1990 was subjected to corruption and corrupt practices”. Moreover, “it has been established that an “Election Cell” had been created in the Presidency which was functioning to provide financial assistance to the favoured candidates, or a group of political parties to achieve desired result by polluting election process and to deprive the people of Pakistan from being represented by their chosen representatives.”

“Late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, retired Gen Aslam Baig and retired Gen Asad Durrani acted in violation of the Constitution,” said the apex court, adding that the federal government should take “necessary steps under the Constitution and Law against them”.

The apex court ordered the government to take legal action against former retired generals involved in the corruption as well as against Younus Habib, former president of the now defunct Mehran Bank.

The court further ordered that money that was illegally disbursed among the politicians by the then president and the ISI should be recovered and deposited in Habib Bank along with the accumulated interest on it. “Legal action should also be taken against the politicians who received the money. Legal proceedings shall be initiated against the politicians, who allegedly have received donations to spend on election campaigns in the general election of 1990,” and a transparent investigation on the criminal side shall be initiated by the FIA against all of them, the court order said.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2015

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