- Conviction of former ISI chief strictly limited to his individual acts.
- Growing expectations for accountability beyond the military: sources
- They add that judges, bureaucrats and politicians could face increased scrutiny.
ISLAMABAD: Following the conviction of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI DG) Director General Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid, some political and media circles have started speculating about the possibility of legal action against former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa.
However, informed sources have dismissed the allegations, saying there are no investigations or proceedings underway against General (retd) Bajwa.
Sources said the rumors circulating in some quarters are baseless. They say the military accountability process that resulted in the former spymaster’s conviction was strictly evidence-based and limited to his individual actions, with no evidence linking the former army chief to the case.
Instead, sources indicate that after the military concluded the accountability process against one of its own senior officers, there is growing expectation that accountability could extend beyond the military domain.
Judges, bureaucrats, politicians and even journalists who allegedly played a role in past political engineering or overstepped constitutional and legal boundaries could face increased scrutiny in the days to come.
A similar position had already been expressed by the military spokesperson. At a press conference last year, the ISPR DG, while responding to questions arising from the arrest of the former ISI chief and the court martial proceedings, made it clear that the military accountability system is transparent and does not work on allegations or assumptions, but on solid evidence.
When asked if former Prime Minister Imran Khan could be tried under the Army Act in the General (retd) Faiz case, the ISPR Director General termed the issue hypothetical and said the matter was sub judice.
However, he stressed that under military law, if an individual is found to have used a person within the jurisdiction of the Army Act for personal or political purposes, and evidence exists, the law would take its own course.
The military spokesperson was also asked about the role of former army chief General (retd) Bajwa and former ISI general Lt Gen (retd) Naveed Mukhtar in the appointment and promotion of General (retd) Faiz. In response, DG I of the ISPR stressed that it would be unfair to link others to the actions of an individual who, for his personal interests and at the behest of certain political elements, exceeded his constitutional and legal limits.
These remarks, coupled with the absence of any evidence against Gen (retd) Bajwa or Gen (retd) Mukhtar, clearly suggest that there is no case against the former army chief in the Gen (retd) Faiz case.
Sources say that even if nothing is done against General (retd) Bajwa, the post-Faiz scenario is expected to open the door to a broader process of accountability targeting members of civil institutions who allegedly facilitated or benefited from unconstitutional behavior in the past.
Such accountability, they say, would be essential to ensure that accountability is set at all levels and not selectively applied.
Originally published in The News
