Pak HC quashes contempt of court case against ISI chief

A Pakistani court has disposed off a contempt of court petition filed against the Inter-Services Services chief and other senior officials by four civilian employees after the spy agency informed the judge that it had taken action to regularise their contractual employment.

Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan of the Islamabad high court disposed off the petition on Thursday after the Inter-Services Intelligence informed the court that it had complied with an earlier order to regularise the employment of staff hired on contract.

The four civilians, Sajjad Ali, Shahid Dilawar, Mohammad Shafiq and Gul Dad, had been hired as junior analysts in the ISI seven years ago. They had sought contempt of court proceedings against ISI chief Lt Gen Zahir-ul-Islam, Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Asif Yasin Malik, Establishment Secretary Taimur

Azmat Usman and Khursheed Shah, chairman of a cabinet sub-committee on regularisation of contract employees. In their petition, the employees contended that the ISI had not acted on the high court's order of December, 2012, to regularise the employment of contractual staff of several departments and ministries.

Shoaib Shaheen, counsel for the petitioners, told the judge that the ISI's actions were tantamount to contempt of court.Deputy Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, who represented the ISI, informed the court that the agency had complied with the court's orders.

He submitted a letter from the ISI that said the case for regularising the contractual employees had been sent to the cabinet's sub-committee.

Jahangiri said the sub-committee would decide the fate of the petitioners after examining their case. If the sub-committee found them suitable, they would be regularised in their department, he said.