FIA to address Bajwa complaint as per law

IHC also issues notices on objections raised to complaint by former army chief

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Federal Investigation Agency to address “in accordance with law” a complaint lodged against four individuals, including a former army chief and a spymaster, for allegedly 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.

At the last hearing of the case on April 1, the court had directed the petitioner to submit the receipt of the complaint that he allegedly lodged with the agency after some of the respondents claimed that the FIA had never received any such complaint. The petitioner on Monday submitted that receipt.

During the hearing the lawyer for General (retd) Bajwa also raised objection to the petition.

He said the petitioner had claimed six months back that he had submitted a complaint with the FIA and later filed a petition in the court complaining that the FIA was not initiating an inquiry and registering a case on the basis of the complaint.

“However, after six months it transpires that the FIA has received the complaint only now. In view of this irregularity, the petition should be dismissed,” he contended.

When the lawyer for one of the journalists asked the judge to refer the matter to a division bench, Justice Farooq noted that a division bench can also be formed but first the FIA will have to determine whether it wants to lodge an FIR or not.

The court noted that it is a common case even though some significant people have been accused in it.  It later directed the agency to decide the complaint according to the law while also issuing notices to respondents on the objections raised to the complaint by General (retd) Bajwa.