ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday observed that the stance taken by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on the detention of a squadron leader was ‘shaky and cloudy.’

Though Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui allowed the trial of the squadron leader, he observed that the way the officer was detained by the PAF authorities was not in accordance with the law.

Also read: PAF officer detained on espionage charges, IHC told

According to the petition filed by Dr Faiza Hassan, the spouse of Squadron Leader Hassan Akhtar, seeking his release, the PAF authorities detained him in November 2014.

IHC allows trial of squadron leader for allegedly leaking information in accordance with the law

As per the reply deputy attorney general (DAG) Husnain Ibrahim Kazmi submitted to the court on behalf of PAF, the Strategic Planning Division (SPD) in late 2014 informed PAF that the officer had ‘leaked’ certain information to unauthorised persons.

Retired Lt-Colonel Inamur Rahim advocate, the counsel for the petitioner, pointed out that the PAF authorities neither mentioned any specific date when the SPD shared the information with them nor disclosed which sort of material the officer had leaked. He said the PAF reply admitted that the officer had been taken into custody on March 4, 2015, whereas he had been under arrest since late 2014.

“Under the PAF Act, the officer should be given a charge-sheet 48 hours after his detention but he has not been given any such document so far,” he added.

There is no provision which empowers PAF to detain an official for such a long period without charge-sheeting him. Justice Siddiqui asked the DAG to explain under which authority the officer had been kept detained from late 2014 till March 4, 2015. “The PAF Act allows you to arrest a person by following certain procedure then why this procedure was not followed?”

Such irregularities force the courts to intervene in matters related to the forces’ domain, the judge remarked, adding he was surprised that an institution such as PAF could take such an action.

The DAG informed the court that the officer had been taken into custody on March 5 after a thorough probe into the accusation. He said as per the PAF rules, the authorities had been arranging meetings of the detained officer with his family members after certain intervals.

Advocate Rahim, however, said a meeting of the detained officer was arranged with his family after the petition was filed with the IHC.

He requested the court to direct the PAF authorities to arrange a weekly meeting of the detained officer with his family members.

“Let the officer face the trial,” Justice Siddiqui held after the arguments of both the petitioner and the DAG. He, however, directed the PAF authorities to proceed in the matter strictly in accordance with the law.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2015

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