ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued a writer order on the plea filed by Moeez Ahmed Khan, owner of the Top City Housing Scheme against the former Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hameed, observing that “the allegations are of an extremely serious nature, and if true, undoubtedly would undermine the reputation of the federal govt, the Armed Forces, ISI and Pakistan Rangers, therefore, they cannot be left unattended.”
Headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, a three-member bench of the Apex Court which also included Justice Aminuddin and Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition.
In its order, the Supreme Court asked the owner of a private housing society to approach the relevant quarters including the Defence Ministry for the redressal of grievances against Lt General Faiz Hameed and his aides.
The Apex Court maintained the Case was not one to proceed under Article 184(3).
“The nature of a case filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution is different from other cases for a number of reasons,” the written order observed.
As per the petition, on May 12, 2017, the Pakistan Rangers and ISI Officials raided the Office of Top City and the residence of Moeez Khan and took away valuables including gold and diamond ornaments and money in connection with a purported terrorism case.
The petition further stated that Lt General Faiz Hameed’s brother Sardar Najaf mediated and tried to resolve the issue. After his acquittal, the petition claimed, General Hameed contacted Moeez Khan through the latter’s cousin — a brigadier in the army — to arrange a meeting.
The petition claimed that during the meeting, General Hameed told the petitioner that he would return some of the items taken away during the raid except for 400 tola gold and cash.
The petition claimed that retired brigadier Naeem Fakhar and retired brigadier Ghaffar of the ISI allegedly “forced” the petitioner to “pay 4 crores in cash” and “sponsor a private AAP TV network for a few months”.
As per the petition, former ISI Officials Irtaza Haroon, Sardar Najaf, Wasim Tabish, Zahid Mehmood Malik, and Mohammad Munir were also “involved in the illegal takeover of the Housing Society”.
However, the Court observed that the matter did not pertain to the enforcement of fundamental rights and suggested the petitioner approach the competent forum including the Defence Ministry.