Younis Habib admits distributing Rs400m to politicians

Younis Habib, the former chief of Mehran Bank on Thursday confessed before the Supreme Court that he distributed Rs400 million among anti-PPP politicians prior to the 1990 elections.

A three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of a 1996 petition moved by Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan, regarding alleged disbursement of money among the anti-PPP politicians by former Army Chief General Aslam Beg, ex-director general ISI Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani and former Mehran Bank chief Younis Habib to disrupt the general elections.

Former ISI chief Asad Durrani and Younus Habib, former chief of Mehran Bank appeared before the court today while Commander Shahbaz represented the Defence Ministery.

While submitting his written statement, Younis Habib made an apology for being a part of the scam, saying that he was under so much pressure that he did not have any choice left. He also disclosed that former military chief Aslam Baig introduced him to then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

He further stated that Aslam Baig made a telephonic contact in March 1990, asking him that the then president wants him to arrange for Rs 350 million. He was apprehended by the Federation Investigative Agency (FIA) when he said it was impossible to arrange such a huge amount.

Due to immense pressure, he continued that he arranged for Rs 1.48 billion out which Rs 400 million were circulated while the rest were invested in different projects. He also provided the court the bank-account numbers from where amounts were transferred.

The former Air Chief alleged that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) rigged the 1990 elections by distributing millions of rupees among anti-PPP political groups. General (Retd) Aslam Baig and Let General (Retd) Asad Durrani were also present during the today’s proceedings.

Later, Raja Salman, the counsel of Asghar Khan while briefing the media said that the prosecution of two people is not important but it is the role of institution in the country that should be controlled.

He was of the opinion that they do not wish that the future of the country is the same as the past six decades.  They only purpose of petition is to make the system clean and transparent, he added. The former banker also disclosed that Roedad Khan forced him to file a case against Asif Ali Zardari.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Mar 8 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Politics. 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.