Former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and ex-Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Faiz Hameed have been issued notices by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) over their alleged violation of the Official Secrets Act.
The IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq issued the notices while hearing a petition filed by a citizen named Atif Ali that demanded registration of a case against the two former generals as well as two journalists.
In his request, the petition said that interviews of the former army chief were done carelessly by the journalists, Javed Chaudhry and Shahid Maitla. He said that the journalists acted irresponsible in publishing the interviews.
According to the petitioner, the revelations that the former COAS made in the interview(s) flouted the Official Secrets Act and were equivalent to inciting mutiny and disharmony.
In March, the IHC registrar office had asked the petitioner to reach out to other relevant authorities as the high court was not the right forum for such a petition. But the petition was ultimately heard by the chief justice, and he ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) DG to do what is required under the law. But the petitioner claimed, during the hearing, that the FIA took no action.
The chief justice then issued notices to all respondents, including Generals (r) Bajwa, Hameed, the two journalists, and the FIA.
