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FIA recommends closure of Asghar Khan case for lack of evidence

FIA recommends closure of Asghar Khan case for lack of evidence
December 29, 2018
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has recommended the closure of the Asghar Khan implementation case for lack of evidence. The FIA, in its report to the SC, said that the matter is 25-year-old and witnesses’ statements contradict each other. “We have not received the complete record of banks concerned,” the report said. The agency said that it does not have enough evidence to restart criminal proceedings, suggesting to the court to close the case file. “Moreover, the accused politicians have denied receiving any payments,” it added. The apex court is scheduled to hear the case on Monday. In 1996, Air Marshal Khan had filed a human rights petition in the SC of Pakistan, accusing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of doling out money to a group of politicians in the 1990s. The case was initiated by Air Marshal Asghar Khan after Benazir Bhutto's interior minister, General (retired) Naseerullah Babar, had disclosed in the National Assembly in 1994 how the ISI had disbursed funds to purchase the loyalty of politicians and public figures so as to manipulate the 1990 elections, form the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), and bring about the defeat of the PPP. 16 years after the petition was filed, the SC in its judgment — penned by then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry — ruled that the 1990 general elections had been polluted by dishing out Rs140 million to a particular group of politicians only to deprive the people of being represented by their chosen representatives. The court had, however, thrown the ball back to the then PPP government by directing it to take necessary action under the Constitution and law against former Army Chief Beg and former DG ISI Durrani for their role in facilitating the group of politicians and political parties to ensure their success against their rivals in the 1990 elections. In May 2017, the PTI had announced its decision to file in the Supreme Court a petition seeking implementation of the orders of the already decided case.