IHC reserves verdict on Inamul Rahim’s ICA

ISLAMABAD: A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday reserved its order in an intra-court appeal (ICA) where appellant Inamul Rahim advocate contended to initiate criminal proceedings against the responsible who invited British Chief of General Staff General Nicholas Patrick Carter as chief guest at a passing out parade in October last year without prior permission of the federal government.

The appellant contended that it was grave violation of the Official Secrets Act as no alien could be invited to the strategic instalments of Pakistan Army and furthermore how any foreigner could administer oath of allegiance to the young cadets as he is not subordinate to the Constitution of Pakistan.

The IHC division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mingul Hassan Aurangzeb reserved order in this matter. The appellant has cited President of Pakistan through principal secretary, Federation of Pakistan through secretary Ministry of Defence and secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs as respondents.

Earlier, an IHC single-judge bench on December 20, 2017 had dismissed this petition in liminie (without hearing). The petitioner then filed an ICA with a plea to adjudicate this matter and set aside the single-bench order.

The appellant contended in the ICA that Pakistan is a parliamentary democracy. As per the arrangements of the Constitution, the president is the head of the state and prime minister along with the cabinet is the executive organ of the state. All other departments of the state including the defence ministry are subordinate departments and cannot work on their own especially interaction with the foreign countries, being prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state.