The case of a missing complaint

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed a petitioner to provide the complaint he purportedly lodged with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against four individuals, including a former army chief and a spymaster, for violating their code of conduct and disseminating false information.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq took up a petition on Monday filed by a citizen, Atif Ali, through his lawyer Raja Rizwan Abbasi, seeking directions for the FIA to initiate a case against former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed, and two renowned journalists.

The petitioner claimed to have submitted the complaint to the FIA director-general's office to register a case against the former servicemen and journalists for breaching their code of conduct and spreading misinformation. However, the agency allegedly did not take any action on the complaints.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the FIA was obligated to launch an inquiry based on the complaint.
The deputy attorney general informed the bench that the FIA had never received any complaint against the former army officials and journalists. Hafiz Arafat Advocate, representing one of the journalists, also stated that the FIA had not yet received any such complaint.

“The petitioner has also not attached a copy of his complaint with his petition. I am amazed as to how this complaint was even admitted for hearing,” he said.

The CJ noted that this point had not been highlighted earlier. “Let’s give a chance to the petitioner,” he said. The court subsequently directed the petitioner to submit a copy of his complaint as it adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.