President Asif Ali Zardari made respondent in Ashgar Khan’s petition

The Supreme Court on Thursday made the current office of president party in the petition pertaining to the distribution of money among politicians by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

A three-member bench of the apex court with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed hearing the petition filed by Air Martial (Retd) Asghar Khan who 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.

Counsel Asghar Khan Salman Akram Raja requested the court to make President Asif Ali Zardari a party in the case.

The court granted the request, making the president a respondent in the case through Salman Farooqi, the president’s principal secretary, or through the president’s secretary in charge. A notice was also issued to the president through the principal secretary.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in the course of hearing remarked that the President House should not be used for political activities as the president was the country’s constitutional head as well as the supreme commander of the armed forces.

He observed, “The objective of a political cell in the President House can only be to ensure a victory in the elections. Officials time and again had said that the President House at the time was issuing directions pertaining to political manipulation.”

He further explained that no political cell should exist in the President House, adding that, the President House had been involved in political activities in the past.

Earlier, during today’s hearing, Ministry of Defence stuck to its denial over the question of the existence of a political cell in the ISI.

The ministry submitted its statement, signed by Secretary Defence Lt-Gen (Retd) Asif Yasin Malik, stating that at present no political cell was operating in any of its subordinate departments.

The chief justice asked ministry’s Director Legal Commander Shahbaz whether a political cell existed in the ISI in the past. Responding to which, Shahbaz said that there was a body in the intelligence agency pertaining to political activity in the past which was no longer operational.

Shahbaz moreover informed the bench that the ministry had appointed the deputy attorney general to represent it in future hearings of the case. Subsequently, the court adjourned the hearing till October 15.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 4 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.