ISLAMABAD: The Sup­re­me Court accepted on Tuesday a request for an in-camera briefing on a case relating to implementation of its landmark 2012 Asghar Khan case verdict after it was informed that a court of inquiry had already been constituted by the defence authorities.

Additional Attorney Gen­eral Nayyar Abbas Rizvi told a three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar that an officer of the rank of lieutenant general had been appointed president of the court of inquiry for probe into alleged involvement of military officers in the distribution of funds to politicians during the 1990 general elections.

At the last hearing on Aug 15, the apex court had warned that it would summon senior military authorities in case the defence ministry showed no progress in implementing the Oct 19, 2012 verdict.

Federal Investigation Age­ncy Director Gen­er­al Bashir Memon sought in-camera audience which the chief justice accepted and said the court registrar would inform him when the briefing would be held.

On May 7, the Supreme Court bench had rejected the 2012 petitions filed by former army chief retired Gen Mirza Aslam Beg and former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general retired Lt Gen Asad Durrani seeking review of the judgement asking the federal government to initiate necessary action against them for their role in dishing out Rs140 million to a particular group of politicians, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, during the 1990 elections.

The verdict was issued on a constitutional petition moved by former air chief late Asghar Khan, requesting the apex court to look into the allegations that the ISI had doled out Rs140 million to many politicians during the 1990 elections.

In response to the petition, Lt Gen Durrani submitted an affidavit giving details of the amount he had authorised on the alleged directive of Gen Aslam Beg.

On May 9, the court had asked the then federal government to decide the fate of the Asghar Khan case and was informed in June about a decision of the last cabinet that references against the former military officials would be sent to the army authorities and those against the politicians to the FIA.

On Tuesday, Nayyar Rizvi informed the court that members of the court of inquiry had been app­oin­ted and that communication had also been established with the FIA to provide assistance when required.

At the last hearing, the FIA director general had told the apex court that the agency had sought some record from the defence ministry related to the whereabouts and contact information of five intelligence officials — retired Brig Amanullah Khan, retired Lt Col Eqbal Saeed Khan, retired Lt Col Ejaz, retired Lt Col Mir Akbar Khan and retired Lt Col Salman Butt — for their role in the disbursement of the funds.

In response, the defence ministry had asked the FIA to furnish army numbers of these officers since it was not possible for them to identify these officers without this information, a report furnished by the FIA said.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2018