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Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has expressed surprise at authorities being unable to produce the official notification for the creation of the ISI's political cell, which has been active for decades.
Chaudhry made the remarks at the Supreme Court on Thursday during a hearing of a petition filed by former air force chief Asghar Khan 16 years ago about the alleged distribution of millions of rupees by the ISI among politicians to manipulate the 1990 general election.
The court recently resumed hearing the petition after a gap of 12 years.
The Supreme Court sought a report from the interior and defence ministries on the notification for the creation of the ISI's political cell after Attorney General Irfan Qadir told the three-judge bench that the notification was missing.
The court directed the two ministries to submit a written reply by the next hearing on October 3.
Asghar Khan has accused the ISI of distributing millions of rupees to politicians for creating the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad to ensure that the Pakistan People's Party did not come to power in the 1990 polls.
The then ISI chief Asad Durrani has acknowledged that he distributed the money on the orders of then army chief Mirza Aslam Beg.
The apex court has expressed exasperation several times at officials being unable to produce the notification that led to the creation of the ISI's political cell during the regime of former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.