No political cell working in Inter-Services Intelligence: Defence Ministry

Reiterating its previous stance, the Defence Ministry in its response to the Supreme Court said that no political cell was operating in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of a petition filed by Air Martial (Retd) Asghar Khan pertaining to the distribution of money among politicians by the ISI to influence the 1990 election results.

Asghar Khan had accused the ISI of financing politicians in the 1990 elections by dishing out Rs140 million to create the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and prevent Benazir Bhutto’s PPP from winning the polls. The petition was based on an affidavit of former ISI chief Lt-Gen (Retd) Asad Durrani.

The Defence Ministry in the course of hearing reiterated that no political cell was operating in the chief spy agency.

To this, Chief Justice Chaudhry said that a letter submitted before the court on June 26, 1997 had stated that a political cell was functioning within the agency.

Subsequently, the bench issued directives to Commander Shahbaz, the official representing the ministry, to submit the reply after it had been signed.

Upon which, he informed the court that the ministry had confirmed the information with the intelligence agency before submitting its response.

The bench summoned both Interior and Defence Secretaries, expressing displeasure over their absence in the hearing.

To this, Commander Shahbaz informed the court that Secretary Defence Lt-Gen (retd) Asif Yasin Malik had failed to appear for the hearing due to his professional engagements, adding that he had gone to conduct a survey of the airport.

Chief Justice Chaudhry was of the opinion that the defence ministry was not taking the matter seriously and didn’t understand what it meant to appear before a court of law.

Moreover, during the hearing, Asghar Khan’s counsel Salman Akram Raja informed the court that the ISI had disbursed money for political operations. Upon which, the chief justice said that it was important to produce evidence pertaining to those who had received the money.

Raja moreover said that out of 14 crore rupees, six crore were distributed among politicians and the remaining eight crore were deposited in the account of the ISI.

The court, subsequently, adjourned the case’s hearing until Thursday.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 3 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.