The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued notices to former Army Chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former ISI Chief Lieutenant General (retired) Faiz Hameed over allegations of violating rules by giving interviews after their retirement, where they are accused of misrepresenting events.
The notices were issued in response to a complaint filed by a private citizen named Atif Ali.
The petition says that journalists Shahid Maitla and Javed Chaudhry conducted interviews with Bajwa and Faiz for the sake of viewership which had a “negative impact” on society. The petitioner said that he had been taken aback when he saw the articles as they could “pollute” society. It added that the garb of freedom of expression was used for a “criminal act”.
The petition further alleges that events were misrepresented in the interviews and that the “criminal act” was conducted through connivance between the journalists and the generals.
The petition says that the interviews portrayed a negative image of the institution and tried to create a rift between it and the people of Pakistan. Copies of the articles have also been attached to the petition.
In addition to Gen. Bajwa and Lt. Gen. Hameed, notices have also been issued to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the Press Association of Pakistan. Two journalists, Shahid Maitla and Javed Chaudhry, who conducted the interviews in question, have also been summoned by the court.
Islamabad High Court’s Chief Justice, Aamer Farooq, in a written order issued on Monday, expressed dissatisfaction with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for not responding to the petitioner’s repeated requests to file a complaint.
