IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN
HRC No. 19 /1996
Air Marshal ® Asghar Khan
Versus
General ® Mirza Aslam Beg and others
COUNTER AFFIDAVIT OF GENERAL ® MIRZA ASLAM BEG, DEPONENT/RESPONDENT NO.1, IN RESPONSE TO THE AFFIDAVIT OF MR. YUNUS A. HABIB
I, General ® Mirza Aslam Beg, hereby do solemnly affirm and state on oath as under:
1. That the deponent hereby sincerely, firmly and honestly deny all the contents of the affidavit sworn by Mr. Yunus A. Habib, on 8th of March, 2012;
2. That the affidavit filed by Mr. Yunus A. Habib, before this Honourable Court, on 8th March 2012, is a "bolt from the blue" and brings out something only to scandalise the proceedings pending before this August Court since 1996.
3. This is a totally malafide attempt to dramatise and scandalise the sanctity of the proceedings pending before this Honourable Court , which have been given a new direction by the sinister intelligence behind this whole affair.
4. That Mr. Yunus Habib, has tried to malign the former President of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan, post humously, myself, and several others in this sordid game of mixing politics with justice, with the sordid intent to obstruct the wheel of justice.
5. That in response to the allegations of Yunus A. Habib, a self condemned perjurer, I consider it proper to bring on record for the kind attention of this honourable Court, the disappearance of the statements of Gen. Assad Durrani, and Maj. General (r) N. K. Baber recorded by this Hon'ble Court in camera but not yet found. This fact supports the respondent deponent's apprehension that the "vested interests, which carry the legacy of the vendetta of the lady" – Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto – against the respondent deponent, for allegedly causing the fall of her government in 1990,continue to haunt him and endeavour to interfere with even the record of this August Court.
6. That the respondent deponent would also draw the attention of this Hon'ble Court, some crucial facts to recall the past proceedings for proper perspective.
a. Judgment was reserved by a Learned bench headed by Chief Justice Mr. Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui on 19.5.1999, but the proceedings were subsequently re-opened by the Chief Justice on 08-10-1999, when the following order was passed:-
"After judgment was reserved in the case, the office pointed out that the statements of two witnesses (Maj.General (Retd) Naseerullah Babar and Lt. Gen.(Retd) Asad Durrani) recorded in the case during in-camera proceedings were neither signed by the witnesses nor by the learned Judges who conducted in-camera proceedings. According, the two witnesses were called in the chamber before one of us (Justice Saiduzzaman Siddiqui) on 2.6.1999 and shown the record of their respective evidence. The two witnesses after going through their statements confirmed the correctness of their statements and signed the same.
Thereafter, Maj. Gen. (Retd) Naseerullah Babar filed an application in the office under Order V Rule 1 (19), 1980, along with several documents, praying that Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari be summoned in the case to produce the computer disk in respect of all accounts maintained in the Mehran Bank and specifically his own accounts and his evidence be also recorded. As judgment in the case was reserved, the office sent the application for orders in the chambers. The above application filed by Maj. Gen. (Retd) Naseerullah Babar could not be heard and disposed of due to summer vacations. As the application filed by Mr. Naseerullah Babar is to be disposed of before final decision of the case, the office is directed to fix the application in Court on 11.10.1999 at 1 p.m. after notice to all the parties and the learned Attorney General."
The case was last fixed according to record on 12-10-1999, i.e. the day of Military Takeover by Gen. Musharaff, on which day the following order was passed:-
"Learned Attorney General submits that he has received the copy of C.M.A.1072/99 today and request for time to file reply thereto. Learned Counsel for respondent No.1 states that his client is out of country. He also requests for time. Adjourned to a date in office.
b. In 1997, I recorded my statement in 'Open Court'. I was questioned by the petitioner's lawyer. But regretfully, the statements of Lt General Asad Durrani and N.K.Baber were recorded in Camera. My defence Council Mr. Akram Sheikh was present and I had no access to these statements, till I got the call-up notice from this apex court, to appear for hearing on 8th March 2012.
c. My Defence Counsel Mr. Akram Sheikh gave me the copy of Lt Gen Asad Durrani's affidavit, but could not find Gen: Naseer Ullah Baber's statement, which was sealed and kept in safe custody of the court.
d. The respondent deponent/applicant was summoned in a petition alleging commission of misconduct by the respondent deponent/applicant and Gen. Asad Durrani, but the respondent deponent/applicant himself volunteered to submit that this allegation would not attract enforcement of any fundamental right falling within the jurisdiction of this Hon'ble Court and way back in 1997 in his concise statement as well as his reply to CMA No.785 of 1997 stated:-
"That this Hon'ble Court could very competently look at the working of political cell of the ISI which was opened by virtue of an executive order in 1975 by Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a former Prime Minister of Pakistan. This Political Cell as per the press reports has allegedly manipulated people's right to form Associations under Article 17 of the Constitution and has also reportedly acted to frustrate the will of the citizens of the country. It is, therefore, in the interest of the national security that a disputed Political Cell be treated differently and distinctly from rest of the institution and may also be dealt with separately so as to rid political process of the country from undesirable, unhealthy and extraneous influence."
7. That the respondent deponent/applicant may also refer to paragraph 14 of his concise statement/ reply on behalf of respondent No.1, which is reproduced here under:-
"14. That on 20 April, 1994 the then Interior Minister Mr. Naseerullah Babar made the disclosure in the National Assembly as reported in the "The Daily Muslim" dated 21st April, 1994:
"That Younas Habib, the Chief Operator of Mehran Bank Limited (MBL) misappropriated Rs.2.10 billion through a number of fake accounts.
"The Interior Minister told the House that Younas Habib gave Rs.140 million to Mirza Aslam Beg, the former COAS in 1991" Rs.70 million to late Jam Sadiq Ali Khan, the then CM Sindh, Rs.20 Million to Altaf Hussain, the MQM Chief, and huge amount to other politicians".
All these allegations have been dealt with and vehemently denied by the respondent deponent/applicant in his concise statement as trumped up charges by Interior Minister of Pakistan Peoples Party government. It is also part of the record that Mr. Rehman Malik travelled to Germany twice to scandalise the issue subject matter of this petition, which was first blasted by Maj. Gen (R) N.K. Babar on the floor of the National Assembly.
8. In the earlier statement quoted to have been made by Mr. Yunus Habib there was no mention of Rs. 1800 million and other allegations that he talks about now and claims that he was directed to produce this amount "by hook or by crook".
9. That in fact he has tried to develop a new story, to cover-up his own crimes of having syphoned-of Rs. 1800 million from Habib Bank/ Mehran Bank for which he was prosecuted, jailed and made to pay almost double the amount of over Rs. 3 billon. Thus, 'politics' and 'crime' mingled together to create space for denial of justice.
10. That I find myself handicapped in properly replying to the affidavit filed by Mr. Yunus Habib, without having in hand the report of Mehran Bank Scandal Commission and Habib Bank Scandal Commission and crave indulgence of this Hon'ble Court to direct the Federal Government of Pakistan Peoples Party to supply me a copy of the same, so that I may submit my detailed response to malicious, prompted, and absolutely false allegation so far as the respondent deponent /applicant is concerned.
11. That the applicant/respondent deponent takes this opportunity for placing before this Hon'ble Court the consistent attitude of various PPP governments towards the judiciary and armed forces and they do not spare any opportunity to tarnish the image of these two institutions.
12. That I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the bundle of lies put together by Mr. Yunus Habib in his affidavit is inspired by political expediency of the vested interests and Yunus Habib's effort to sanctify his sordid deals, by linking-up the matter with "fund raising for elections, in national interest."
13. That this affidavit is a cover-up for his own crime, he was found guilty of and punished for under the law. It was a separate matter, which has been dealt with by the Habib Bank and Mehran Bank Commissions of Enquiries.
Submitted with respect by
SWORN at Islamabad this day of 09-03-2012.
Respondent deponent
General (Retd) Mirza Aslam Beg
"That this Hon'ble Court could very competently look at the working of political cell of the ISI which was opened by virtue of an executive order in 1975 by Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a former Prime Minister of Pakistan. This Political Cell as per the press reports has allegedly manipulated people's right to form Associations under Article 17 of the Constitution and has also reportedly acted to frustrate the will of the citizens of the country. It is, therefore, in the interest of the national security that a disputed Political Cell be treated differently and distinctly from rest of the institution and may also be dealt with separately so as to rid political process of the country from undesirable, unhealthy and extraneous influence."
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