Ex-Pak judge makes former army chief Bajwa & ex-ISI chief Hameed parties to case about his dismissal

A sacked Pakistani judge on Thursday made ex-Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and former ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed part of a case about his dismissal over remarks against the country's powerful spy agency.

Former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was sacked by President Arif Alvi in 2018 after a high-level constitutional body recommended his removal for making a scathing speech against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

While addressing the Rawalpindi District Bar Association on July 21, 2018, Siddiqui alleged that the ISI was manipulating judicial proceedings to constitute a panel of judges to get favourable decisions.

A five-member bench of the court led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa took up Siddiqui's case for hearing on Thursday.

The chief justice observed that Siddiqui should make those persons as respondents to the case who he claimed approached him to influence a favourable outcome in a case.

Siddiqui followed with an application for making Bajwa, Hameed and four other persons as parties in the case.

The other four include former brigadiers Irfan Ramay and Faisal Marwat, former Islamabad High Court chief justice Anwar Kasi and former IHC registrar Arbab Arif. The court will hear the fresh application on Friday.

Siddiqui made headlines in 2018 due to his controversial speech targeting the ISI. However, he soon found himself in hot waters and was removed in the same year by the Supreme Judicial Council following complaints that he was guilty of misconduct.

He challenged his removal from office, but the hearing was delayed. The case was last taken up for hearing in June 2022. In November this year, Siddiqui filed an application for an early hearing of his petition, which he claimed had been pending since October 2018.

In his original plea, Siddiqui had requested to cancel the dismissal notification issued against him as a judge.

It will be interesting to note how the former top military leadership responds to his plea, according to observers.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)