The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued directives to former Director General Intelligence Bureau (IB) Tariq Lodhi to submit a latest report within two days on alleged withdrawal of Rs 270 million from the bureau's secret funds to topple PML-N government in Punjab in 2008-09.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was hearing a suo-motu case over alleged withdrawal of secret IB funds between 1989 to 1990 and 2008-2009 for political purposes. The court had taken a suo motu notice of a report which appeared in a section of press on March 14.
According to that report, Rs 270 million was allegedly withdrawn by PPP government to dislodge Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in Punjab in 2008-09. The bench also asked Attorney General for Pakistan Irfan Qadir to submit all the legal justifications and objections in the instant matter within seven days.
At the outset of hearing, the court was informed that the then President, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, with the help of the then Army Chief was a key player in "all the games" played against the then constitutionally-elected government of Benazir Bhutto. In pursuance of the court's earlier order, Masood Sharif Khan Khattak, former DG IB, told the court that the then President, Ghulam Ishaq, wanted to get Benazir Bhutto out of politics forever.
The former DG IB contended that that late Ghulam Ishaq Khan had never been able to take any step, but he did so as he was supported and prompted by General Mirza Aslam Beg, the then Army Chief.
Khattak pleaded that he was convinced that the Army as an institution had nothing to do with all those events and that the individuals mentioned, by virtue of the offices they held, acted in their individual capacities. Khattak further submitted that Benazir Bhutto was unable to get intelligence information from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI), thus she had tried to increase IB's secret funds to make it more effective.
He alleged that 'hidden' hands of then military Chief General Mirza Aslam Beg and the then ISI chief, Lieutenant General Assad Durrani, were behind a no-confidence move against Benazir Bhutto. At the time of vote of no-confidence the situation was such that President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the then Punjab government with the full support of the then Army Chief, General Mirza Aslam Beg, were grouped together whereas the movement of the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto had been restricted within the limits of Islamabad Capital Territory with no access to intelligence from the military intelligence agencies, Khattak alleged.
According to him, an "isolated" Prime Minister was thus heavily dependent upon the IB for intelligence on the then existing unconstitutional political happenings amongst host of other things. Tariq Lodhi, another former DG IB, also submitted his written reply before the court in the instant case and requested the court to keep his statement over the misuse of IB's secret fund secret.
However, the Chief Justice noted that all the secret documents pertaining to the matter had come on record. "You can hide information from the whole world but not from the court," the Chief Justice said while addressing Lodhi. He directed him to share all the secret information with the court regarding the issue in hand without any hesitation. The hearing was adjourned till February 8.
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