Asghar Khan case: Nawaz, Siraj deny receiving money

ISLAMABAD: The former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq on Saturday denied receiving money for the 1990 election campaign.

In his reply submitted to the Supreme Court in the famous Asghar Khan case, Nawaz said he had never received Rs3.5m or Rs2.5m either from the former DG Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani or ex-Habib Bank, Sindh [a government-run bank at that time] chief and the now defunct Mehran Bank owner Younis Habib or anyone else for the 1990 election campaign. He contended that his statement in this case has already been recorded by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Meanwhile, Sirajul Haq also submitted an affidavit on behalf of his party denying the allegation of receiving money from the ISI for the 1990 election. The apex court had recently taken up the case again after the FIA failed to implement its earlier decision. Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court had directed all the 31 respondents, including Nawaz Sharif and Javed Hashmi, to submit written replies by June 9 (Saturday).

Case history: On October 19, 2012, the apex court had issued a 141-page verdict, ordering legal proceedings against Gen (retd) Beg and Lt Gen (retd) Durrani in the case filed 16 years ago by Air Chief Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan.

In 1996, Asghar Khan had moved the Supreme Court, alleging that the two senior army officers and the then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan had doled out Rs140 million among several politicians ahead of the 1990 polls to ensure Benazir Bhutto's defeat in the polls. The Islamic Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), comprising nine parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League, National People’s Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, had won the 1990 elections and Nawaz Sharif was elected as prime minister. The alliance was formed to oppose the Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People’s Party.

In 1996, Khan wrote a letter to the then Supreme Court Chief Justice Nasim Hassan Shah naming Beg, Durrani and Younis Habib for the unlawful disbursement of public money and its misuse for political purposes.

The 2012 apex court judgment, authored by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry, had ruled that the 1990 general elections had been polluted by dishing out Rs140 million to a particular group of politicians to deprive the people of being represented by their chosen representatives.

The court had directed the Federal Investigation Agency to initiate a transparent investigation and hold a subsequent trial if sufficient evidence is found against the former army officers. That investigation, however, is yet to conclude.

On June 16, 1996, Asghar Khan wrote another letter to then CJP Sajjad Ali Shah. According to the letter, Sharif had allegedly received Rs3.5 million, Mir Afzal Khan Rs10 million, Lt Gen Rafaqat Rs5.6 million (for distributing money among journalists), Abida Hussain Rs1 million, Jamaat-e-Islami Rs5 million, and senior journalist Altaf Hassan Qureshi Rs500,000.

Moreover, in Sindh, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi and Jam Sadiq allegedly received Rs5 million each, Muhammad Khan Junejo Rs250,000, Pir Pagara Rs2 million, Maulana Salahuddin Rs300,000 while other small groups were given Rs5.4 million.

In Balochistan, Humayun Marri received Rs1.5 million. The letter also contained names of Bizenjo and Kakar tribes.