A high court in Pakistan today summoned the ISI chief and the Defence Secretary to appear before it on July 4 in a case related to opening of a portion of a main road here which was closed due to security reasons.
A portion of Khayaban-e-Suharwardy road and around five acre of greenbelt have been closed by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) citing security reasons a few years ago, when terrorists were targeting key security installations. A small portion of the road is closed and traffic has been diverted.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui issued the summons to ISI Director General Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Zameerul Hassah Shah, after authorities failed to implement his June 22 order to clear the road, in front of the ISI headquarters.
As per the orders, the authorities were to clear the road for use by the general public by June 29, and submit a compliance report.
Hearing the case today, the judge said there was no reason to block the public passage, against the master as well as sector plans.
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Muhammad Younus, who appeared in the court place of Shah, informed that court that consultations were going and sought more time to implement the orders.
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The judge said roads were for public convenience and it was illegal to block them, and there should not be any consultation regarding an illegal action.
When Deputy Attorney General Arshad Kiani requested that it was a sensitive issue and the hearing should be held in the judge's chamber, Justice Siddiqui rejected the request with observations that if any sensitive information was shared, he would ask media not to report it.
So far, it was not clear that if Shah and the ISI chief will appear in the court. Earlier, Shah was summoned on June 22 but a Joint Secretary appeared in the court in his place.
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