The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the incumbent and former chiefs of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) over misuse of secret funds during the tenures of PPP governments.
Heading a three-judge bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed sitting Director General of IB Akhtar Hussain Gorchani and former DGs Masood Sharif Khattak and Tariq Lodhi to provide details of the alleged transfer of money from IB’s account for political purposes during their tenures.
The apex court has also sought details of the IB budget from 1988 to 1990 and 2008 to 2009.
The issue entails utilisation of Rs 270 million allegedly drawn by the PPP government from the secret fund of the IB to topple the Punjab government. The issue was first noticed by the Supreme Court during the hearing of the Asghar Khan case after the attorney general pointed out a story published in an English daily that claimed the PPP government had withdrawn funds from the IB’s secret account. The chief justice had later taken suo motu notice of news reports about the misuse of funds by the ruling Pakistan People’s Party. During Wednesday’s hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed the IB officials to submit a detailed reply before the next hearing of the case. IB Deputy Director (Legal) Naveeda Sehar submitted the reply to court’s notices, which was rejected by the court. The CJ remarked that if the IB had any information, it could be exchanged in-camera. Later, the court adjourned the proceedings until two weeks.
Misuse of funds: SC issues notices to serving, ex-IB chiefs
