A three-member bench of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja will take up three review petitions filed against the apex court's verdict over retired Air Marshal Ashghar Khan's plea accusing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of distributing Rs 140 million to manipulate the 1990 general elections.
On October 19, 2012, a three-member bench headed by the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Khiliji Arif Hussain announced its verdict after hearing Asghar Khan's plea that was taken up 16 years after it was filed. After hearing the matter for almost 10 months, the apex court had issued directives to the federal government to take action against retired Army Chief General Aslam Beg and former Director General ISI Lieutenant General Asad Durrani for violating the Constitution. The Court had also directed Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the recipients of funds with the objective of taking legal action against them.
"The late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the then President of Pakistan, General Aslam Beg (Retd) and General Asad Durrani (Retd) acted in violation of the Constitution by facilitating a group of politicians and political parties, etc, to ensure their success against the rival candidates in the general election of 1990, for which they secured funds from Mr Younas Habib. Their acts have brought a bad name to Pakistan and its Armed Forces as well as secret agencies in the eyes of the nation, therefore, notwithstanding that they may have retired from service, the Federal Government shall take necessary steps under the Constitution and Law against them," the bench had ruled.
Announcing its judgement in the case the apex court had said, "legal proceedings shall be initiated against politicians, who allegedly have received donations to spend on election campaigns in the general election of 1990, therefore, transparent investigation on the criminal side shall be initiated by the FIA against all of them and if sufficient evidence is collected, they shall be sent up to face trial, according to law - Younus Habib shall also be dealt with in the same manner".
The Supreme Court ruled, "an amount of Rs 80 million, statedly, has been deposited in Account No 313 titled Survey and Construction Group Karachi, maintained by MI, therefore, this amount with profit shall be transferred to Habib Bank Ltd if the liability of HBL has not been adjusted so far, otherwise, the same may be deposited in the treasury account of Government of Pakistan". On March 3, Syed Ali Zafar will appear before a three-member bench of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Maqbool Baqar on behalf of former army chief Mirza Aslam Beg in the matter. The Attorney General's office has deputed a Deputy Attorney General to appear before the bench in the case whereas former head of the ISI General Asad Durrani (retired) will plead the case in person before the court.
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