President’s secretary says no political cell in Presidency since 2008

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday said being head of the state, the president should be impartial and not support any political group.
The CJ was hearing a petition filed by Air Martial (r) Asghar Khan pertaining to doling out of money by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) among politicians before 1990 election.
The petition is based on an affidavit of by Gen (r) Asad Durrani, former head of the ISI.
During the hearing, the SC remarked that General (r) Aslam Beg and Durrani acted individually while handing out money to politicians. The court also remarked that the then army chief should not have acted the way he did and the events of 1999 and November 3 could have been avoided.
Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said the distribution of money among politicians was an individual act of General (r) Aslam Beg and General (r) Asad Durrani and the whole institution could not be blamed for it.
Former brigadier Hamid Saeed was also summoned by the court but he could not appear owing to illness.
On contact by the Registrar’s Office, Hamid Saeed confirmed he would appear in court tomorrow.
During the proceedings, Secretary to the President Malik Asif Hayat submitted a response stating that no political cell had been operating in the President’s House since 2008.
Justice Khilji asked the president’s secretary whether a political cell existed in the presidency prior to September 2008.
Hayat said there were some files in the possession of the president’s military secretary, adding that he would be able to respond once he had reviewed them.
The attorney for former army chief Gen (r) Aslam Beg also submitted his client’s sworn statement and said there was a political cell in the Presidency.
Chief Justice Chaudhry remarked that Beg was aware of the IJI funding and then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan used to be briefed about the activities.
The Supreme Court also summoned the details by Thursday of the Rs 80 million not distributed amongst politicians by the Ministry of Defence.
In his remarks, the chief justice said the then president’s support for the IJI was a violation of his oath.
He reiterated that the head of state should not support any political group.
“Under the constitution, the president is the head of state, not the chief of a political party,” the CJ said.
He also remarked that the Supreme Court might wrap up proceedings of the case by today (Thursday).