In Islamabad, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has instructed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to address a complaint “in accordance with law” lodged against four individuals, including a former army chief and a spymaster, for allegedly violating their code of conduct and disseminating false information.

Chief Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC heard a petition on Monday filed by citizen Atif Ali, represented by lawyer Raja Rizwan Abbasi. The petition sought 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 well-known journalists.

In the previous hearing on April 1, the court had instructed the petitioner to provide the receipt of the complaint he allegedly lodged with the agency, as some respondents claimed that the FIA had not received any such complaint. On Monday, the petitioner submitted the receipt.

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During the hearing, the lawyer for General (retd) Bajwa raised objections to the petition. He pointed out that the petitioner had claimed six months ago that he had submitted a complaint to the FIA. However, it has now emerged that the FIA has only recently received the complaint. In light of this irregularity, the lawyer argued that the petition should be dismissed.

When the lawyer for one of the journalists requested the judge to refer the matter to a division bench, Justice Farooq noted that a division bench could be formed, but first, the FIA needed to determine whether it intended to lodge an FIR or not. The court observed that while some significant individuals were accused in the case, it was a common case. It directed the agency to decide on the complaint according to the law and also issued notices to respondents regarding the objections raised by General (retd) Bajwa.