The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared unsatisfactory a response filed by Intelligence Bureau Director General Akhtar Hussain Gorchani in a case pertaining to the withdrawal of huge amounts of money from IB’s accounts by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) governments for political purposes in 1988-1990 and 2008-09.
A three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the case on Wednesday.
During the hearing, the bench directed the IB DG to produce the details of the bureau’s secret funds.
The bench said it would summon former IB DG Tariq Lodhi if it found the details produced by the current DG unsatisfactory.
The court moreover directed the treasury secretary to submit a reply on the withdrawal of Rs 270 million from the IB’s secret funds along with concerned records.
The bench stated that Lodhi had said that funds had been withdrawn from the bureau’s account, adding that the response filed by Gorchani on the matter was not satisfactory.
Directing Gorchani to file his response again, the bench adjourned the hearing until Jan 8.
On November 28, 2012, the Supreme Court had taken notice of a report that had appeared in an English daily on March 14, alleging that Rs 270 million had been withdrawn by the PPP government to dislodge the Punjab government in 2008-09.
Asad Kharral, the reporter, appeared before the court and alleged that the plot could not succeed because of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s insistence on installing its chief minister in Punjab. Kharral also claimed that in addition to Rs 270 million, Rs 360 million were withdrawn by the PPP government in 1988-1990 to remove the governments in the then North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and other provinces.
