ISLAMABAD: Former army chief General Aslam Beg on Monday appeared beforethe Supreme Court in Asghar Khan case.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar had directed the courtoffice to fix the case on May 7 to hear the review petitions against 2012judgment by the apex court in the famous Asghar Khan case.
A three-member bench headed by the chief justice is conducting theproceedings.
The case has once again come into the limelight at a time when theplaintiff Asghar Khan, former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, former premierBenazir Bhutto, former interior minister Major General (retd) NaseerullahBabar and a key witness Abdul Hafeez Pirzada are no more in this world.
When the hearing resumed, the CJP asked the former COAS to begin hisarguments if he has not engaged any lawyer. On this, Beg requested time toprepare for the case saying he was informed about the case a couple of daysago.
The chief justice refused to grant more time and told the former chief thatthe hearing would not be adjourned at any cost.
In 1996, Asghar Khan wrote a letter to the-then chief justice of PakistanNasim Hassan Shah alleging that Ghulam Ishaq Khan, General Aslam Beg, DGISI Lt. Gen Asad Durrani and ex-Habib Bank Sindh chief and Mehran Bankowner Younis Habib had doled out Rs140 million among several politiciansahead of the 1990 polls to ensure Benazir Bhutto’s defeat in the polls.
On October 19, 2012, the apex court issued a 141-page verdict underthe-then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry declaring that the 1990 electionswere rigged. The court had ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)to investigate the fraudulent elections and initiate legal proceedingsagainst the two Generals.