Pak SC wants 'comprehensive reply' to 'mysteriously missing' ISI political cell records
Islamabad, Oct. 16 (ANI)
While the Pakistan Supreme Court is still looking for evidence to prove the existence of an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed political cell in the President House, another obstacle has appeared before the court in the Asghar Khan case.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has been hearing the 1996 petition filed by former Air Chief Khan, who had accused the ISI of financing politicians in the 1990 elections by dishing out Rs 140 million to create the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and prevent Benazir Bhutto's PPP from winning the polls.
A representative of Secretary to the President House, Asif Hayat, told the court that no record of such a political cell's existence could be found during the tenure of former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, reports The Express Tribune.
The President House office sought time from the court to submit a detailed report in this regard, after going through decades-old records.
The bench granted 48 hours to the President House to submit a comprehensive report.
Salman Akram Raja, the counsel for Khan, said the material submitted before the bench was sufficient admission of "the gross violation of constitutional parameters".
Raja also questioned the role of military authorities at the time that took steps without constitutional and legislative backing.