Asghar Khan case: key suspect Younus Habib passes away

Earlier on Monday, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) once again requested the Supreme Court to close Asghar Khan implementation case. In a reply submitted to the SC, the FIA stated that the agency had recorded the statements of witnesses and a probe into the ‘benami’ bank accounts. It stated that the inquiry committee had conducted the interviews of journalists, including Mujeebur Rahman and Habib Ikram. Moreover, the key witness Brig (retd) Hamid Saeed and Yousaf Memon advocate were also interrogated in the case. The agency, the reply stated, could not get substantial proofs to proceed with the case. “Hence it is impossible to try the case in any court for lack of proofs,” it said.

SC de-lists Asghar Khan case, issues cancellation notification

Earlier on March 20, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has de-listed the Asghar Khan case and issued a cancellation notification in this regard. The parties have been issued the cancellation notification.

SC orders completion of inquiry against army officers in 4 weeks

Earlier on February 11, the Supreme Court has ordered the Defence Ministry to complete the inquiry against the army officers involved in the Asghar Khan case. Hearing the Asghar Khan implementation case on Monday, a three-member bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed remarked that why the army officers were not court martialled. “The MQM founder also got the money, but his name did not surface,” it remarked. The court remarked that the matter will move forward after the completion of the inquiry. “Court martial can be conducted at any time if a fraud is committed or loss is caused to the national exchequer,” he said. The attorney general stated that the name of the MQM founder was in the FIA report, but he was not in Pakistan and talks were going on with the British government in this regard.

Asghar Khan Case History

The case was filed in June 1996 by Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan. He alleged that money was distributed by the secret agency to politicians to create the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad and stop the PPP from coming into power in 1990. The air marshal had said that an alliance of nine parties, including the PML-N, National People’s Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, received money from the agency before the 1990 elections. The funds were allegedly provided by Younus Habib, the then chief executive officer of Habib Bank Limited (HBL), which was a government-run bank at the time.