Defence Ministry failed to present ISI’s political cell’s notification

Ministry of Defence on Monday failed to produce the notification about the setting-up Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI)’s political wing to the Supreme Court.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing in the case involving alleged disbursement of millions among anti-PPP politicians by the country’s chief spy agency before the 1990s general elections.

Air Marital (Retd) Asgahr Khan filed the petition with the court, back in 1996, saying that the ISI’s financing of politicians prevented the victory of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP).

Attorney General Irfan Qadir informed the court that the notification about ISI’s political wing, which was issued some 39 years ago, hadn’t yet been found.

Chief Justice Chaudhry said that all found involved in the case would be held accountable. Earlier, he vowed to take the case to its logical conclusion.

During the today’s course of hearing, he asked the attorney general to assist the court, saying that the notification should be in the Gazette of Pakistan. He also raised a question about response of the defence ministry over the notification.

Commander Shahbaz, the representative of the the ministry, said that it did not have a copy of the said notification.

Upon which, the court announced another verdict against the ISI’s political wing, directing Attorney General to inform Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf along with other concerned authorities about the matter.

It further said that the said cell couldn’t function as the ISI was answerable to the premier.

Lt. General (Retd) Asad Durrani, the-then director-general of the ISI, claimed that he had seen the notification with one of his friend.  The bench directed the Attorney General to review the claim of Asad Durrani regarding the presence of a political cell within the ISI or to present the sealed document in the court.

The ruling further said that the democracy will continue in the country in accordance with the law of the land, adding that no extra constitutional interference could derail the system.

Justice Khilji Arif Hussain during the course of hearing said that the Attorney General Office had also received the ISI’s political cell notification, saying that it will create problems in the hearing if the notification is not obtained.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jul 16 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.