SC orders action against Asad Durrani, Aslam Baig

The Supreme Court ordered for initiation of criminal proceedings against former Army Chief General Aslam Baig and former DG ISI Lieutenant General Assad Durrani for illegally distributing public money amongst the politicians to defeat a particular group in 1990 elections.A three member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry announcing short order in the Asghar Khan case maintained that their act was in their personal capacity and the institutions were not involved in it.Their act brought bad name to the army and the government should initiate action against them. Action should also be initiated against the then CEO of Habib Bank Younis Habib besides officials of ISI and MI.The short order said the elections of 1990 were rigged to influence the political process and called for investigation by the FIA against those politicians who accepted the public money before the 1990 elections. This money should be recovered with profit and deposited in the national exchequer.An amount of eighty million rupees which was deposited in the account of Survey and Construction group Karachi maintained by the MI shall also be transferred to the Habib Bank with profit.The apex court said that secret agencies have no role in election process. The military cannot take part in politics and cannot destablize the democratic government.The judgment also stated that any political cell operating in presidency or ISI should be closed down.