The Mehran Bank scandal lies at the heart of the perpetual state of crisis faced by Pakistani democracy. It had exposed the dangers posed by lack of accountability of unelected institutions, and highlighted the need for greater transparency in their affairs. Thanks to retired Air Marshal Asghar Khan, the matter was reached the Supreme Court of Pakistan, where it remained pending a hearing for many years before it was taken up by in 2012. Subsequently, one of the protagonists of the plot to prevent Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto from security an election victory in 1990, the then director general of Inter-Services Intelligence General Asad Durrani, submitted an affidavit admitting to his role in the affair, in cahoots with the then Chief of Army Staff Mirza Aslam Beg.
The case culminated in a landmark verdict in which the apex court directed the authorities concerned to initiate criminal proceedings against all those involved in the matter, including the two retired military officers. According to the petitioner’s lawyer Advocate Salman Akram Raja, the verdict should have led to initiation of proceedings against the retired officers under Article 6 of the Constitution. Somehow, the executive agencies concerned managed to keep delaying the matter until recently. However, it appears that the apex court has now resolved to see its verdict through. In the latest hearing of the case, the court has sought an explanation from the Ministry of Defence for the lack of implementation of the 2012 verdict. According to the statement made by the MoD in the last hearing, action has yet to be taken against Generals Durrani and Beg because a mandatory investigation prior to it is still underway, though the lapse of six years between the verdict and this statement suggests that the MoD is trying to cover up for lack of seriousness on the part of those concerned in implementing the order to begin with.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to suggest that the future of democracy in this country rests on the outcome of this case. Misadventures by personnel in unelected institutions has long been ignored, and the cost has to be paid by the electorate whose mandate does not end up reflecting in the legislatures elected into power. Going by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) recent requests to the court to cancel proceedings in the matter, it doesn’t seem likely that the agency shares the apex court’s resolve to take the matter to its logical conclusion. In these circumstances, the court’s supervision will surely help keep the proceedings on track. However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also needs to own the actions, so that the agencies working under its command make this case a matter of highest priority. The PTI has been big on accountability, and there is no matter more urgent at this point than accountability of those who have remained unaccountable for stealing the mandate of the electorate. *
Published in Daily Times, February 14th 2019.