The appeal against former chief of staff of the army General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hameed, was submitted on Tuesday, November 28, however the Islamabad High Court has opted not to consider it because the matter has been withdrawn from its cause list.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq was set to hear a petition filed by citizen Muhammad Atif Ali, asking for the start of criminal proceedings against the former troops, according to the court’s cause list released the day before.
The respondents, which included the head of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), journalists Javed Chaudhry and Shahid Maitla, Gen. (retd) Bajwa, and Lt Gen (retd) Hameed, were given notice by the IHC during its hearing on October 28. The notices instructed them to turn in their responses and pertinent documents three days before November 28.
On Sunday, the IHC website’s cause list indicated that Tuesday’s hearing to evaluate the plea would not occur.
The petitioner begged the court to order the FIA to file a case and start a criminal investigation against Lt Gen (retd) Hameed, Gen (retd) Bajwa, and a number of other people.
The petitioner claimed that the news articles the journalists wrote were based on fictitious conversations with the retired generals and that they had a “negative impact” on society.
Under the pretext of freedom of speech, he asserted that these writings constituted a “criminal act.”
The petitioner claimed that these news reports painted a negative picture of governmental institutions in an effort to increase viewership.
The petitioner contended that two journalists, Chaudhry and Maitla, conducted a “reckless” interview with General (retd) Bajwa and showed no accountability in publishing the results.
According to the petition, the revelations made during the interviews amounted to encouraging discord and mutiny and violated the Official Secrets Act.
It added, arguing that the articles presented various issues regarding the behavior of military authorities that required further investigation and that the respondents had committed a “cognisable offence.”
In the talks with the journalists, Gen (retd) Bajwa allegedly talked about the no-confidence motion against PTI Chairman Imran Khan, as well as other topics.
Additionally, the petitioner asked the court to order Pemra to ban the two journalists.
The IHC registrar’s office objected to the petition in March of this year, stating that the high court was the wrong venue for the case.
The petitioner was instructed to contact the appropriate authorities by the office. Upon hearing the petition, the Chief Justice instructed the Director General of the FIA to follow the law. But the petitioner told the court during the hearing that the FIA had done nothing.
All of the respondents received notices from the IHC CJ later on.
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