Former ISI chief admits distribution of 70 million among politicians

Former ISI chief Lt Gen (Retd) Asad Durrani on Monday admitted that he distributed 70 million rupees among politicians upon orders from higher authorities including General Aslam Baig and Ijlal Haider Zaidi.

In a statement submitted in the Supreme Court, he said that the money was distributed by Brigadier Hamid Saeed and that it was done in the larger interest of the country upon the directives of the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary resumed the hearing of the petition filed by Air Martial (Retd) Asghar Khan pertaining to Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) distributing money among politicians to change the elections results.

In a statement, the former head of top spy agency said that he distributed the money among politicians to create the the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and prevent Benazir Bhutto’s PPP from winning the polls.

Upon which, the chief justice termed the act as the violation of the Constitution and the violation of his oath. He also asked what he meant by the term “national interest”, adding that, the idea of national interest must not be abused.

Moreover, he said as to how could the manipulation of an election to ensure the defeat of a certain political party be in the greater national interest.

Chief Justice Chaudhary remarked, “The president should not act as a party as the head of state was the symbol of the federation. Ghulam Ishaq Khan should not have supported the IJI.”

In his view, it was the people’s authority to empower a political party and what Durrani did was unconstitutional and a violation of his oath.

In report to this, the former ISI chief said whatever was done was done under orders from above and he was admitting to the responsibility as that was in the greater national interest.

Durrani also stated that Brig (Rtd) Hamid Saeed Akhtar also had a role in the distribution of money among politicians. The court now adjourned the hearing till Tuesday.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 15 2012. Filed under 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.