RAWALPINDI, Feb 27: The Rawalpindi bench of Lahore High Court sought on Monday a reply from the secretary of defence 'within 24 hours' on a petition of Brigadier Ali Khan who is currently facing court martial.

He is accused of having links with the banned outfit Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT); conspiring to topple the government; trying to instigate a mutiny within the army; and launching an attack on the GHQ.

In the petition filed in the LHC through his counsel Advocate Inamur Rahim, Brigadier Khan challenged the legality of his court martial where he mentioned some undisclosed facts regarding his arrest.

LHC Justice Ijaz Ahmed who took up the petition sought the reply from the defence ministry and adjourned the matter till Wednesday (Feb 29).

On the other hand, the defence is claiming that the brigadier is being targeted for his views. Advocate Rahim told the court that after the Abbottabad operation of May 2 in which the US forces killed Osama bin Laden, Brig Khan, during a conference convened by senior military hierarchy on May 5 at the GHQ, and demanded that the responsibility of the May 2 incident should be fixed.

The petitioner also suggested that the army leadership should surrender their perks and privileges for the sake of self- reliance. However, after the conference, on the same day, the petitioner was arrested and since then he has been kept in solitary confinement.

On the same day, Advocate Rahim said, the petitioner was intimated that his retirement was held in abeyance till further orders. Under Army Rules and Regulations 22-A, an officer can be retained in service beyond the date of retirement if a war is imminent or in extreme situations.

The petitioner's retirement was due on May 10, he added.

In the petition, he has challenged the composition of field general court martial (FGCM) constituted for the trial and pointed out that the FGCM comprised five members, presided by a Major General Commander of 8 Division along with one Brigadier and one Lt. Col of the same formation under his command. The constitution of the FGCM, in itself is illegal, unlawful and in disregard of the provisions of the Pakistan Army Act.

He has also said that the Summery of Evidence was recorded in clear violation of Pakistan Army Rule 13 and the mandatory provisions were blatantly violated. The charges were framed on mere assumptions. He alleged that after the arraignment the proceedings were almost frozen to fabricate the evidence. The petitioner has been accused of entering into conspiracy with a few civilians and a PAF pilot to carry out attack on GHQ by using an F-16 aircraft. However, none of the civilians referred to in the case or the Air Force Pilot has been arrested in the connection.

The petition says that since his arrest the petitioner has been illegally kept in solitary confinement in clear violation of Rules, Regulation and Custom of Service. Even under Geneva Conventions nobody can be kept in solitary confinement for more than 14 days and that can only be imposed as a punishment and that this was observed by the apex court.

The counsel said the petitioner is a chronic heart patient and during the recent solitary confinement he had a severe heart attack and was immediately shifted to AFIC, his angiography was carried out and only then during that process on the insistence of the chief cardiologist, his family was allowed to visit him. CHARGES:

According to the investigation report of Major Kashif Saleem of Special Investigation Branch (SIB), Brig Khan with the help of his four military and four civilian accomplices wanted to attack a large gathering such as a dinner for the formation commanders hosted by the president, the prime minister and the army chief.

The investigation report said Brig Khan, in a discussion about the attacks on GHQ and President House proposed that 300 to 400 officers take over the two installations. They also planned air strikes on corps commanders' or formation commanders' conferences and for this purpose they were arranging an F-16 fighter jet and a Pakistan Air Force pilot had also expressed willingness to carry out air raid at the venue of the identified conference.

It may be mentioned that in October 2009, about 10 terrorists had attacked the GHQ and held a number of officers and other staff hostage inside the building.

According to the investigation report, activists of banned outfit Hizb-ut- Tahrir (HuT) met Brig Khan in 2008.

It said Brig Khan also discussed the new military command that would be put into place after the removal of the existing chain of command. According to his alleged plans, Major General Ashfaq would be made director general military operations, Major General Naseer Janjua chief of general staff, Major General Kaleem Sabir commander of army strategic command and Major General Rafiq Sabir commander 10 corps.

During the period from August 2008 to April 2011, Brig Khan tried to cultivate Brig Naeem Sadiq, Brig Mohammad Amin and Brig Aamer Riaz for the cause of the banned HuT outfit. Brig Riaz who was commander 111 brigade and later become the prosecution witness told the investigator that Brig Khan was one of his instructors at War College in 2004-2005. According to his written statement, a few months ago, Brig Khan called him a couple of time on the phone and invited him to his office.

During the meeting Brig Khan expressed his disappointment with the political and military leadership and started talking of replacing it with the “Caliphate” system and referred to his very intimate connections with HuT.

He then went on to suggest that a Caliphate could not be established unless it was driven into power by the army which was not going to materialise until the existing leadership of the army was removed.

He said Brig Khan discussed options to remove top military brass — either the corps commanders and personal staff officers during a corps commander's conference or the entire lot of formation commanders during a formation commanders' conference. Brig Riaz concluded that he refused to be part of the accused's plans.