ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday sought a reply from the capital police on a petition filed to quash the first information report (FIR) registered against Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir for defaming the army.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition.

Zainab Janjua, while representing Ms Hazir, told the court that she (Imaan) had joined the investigation.

She also submitted her statement about joining the investigation.

In her statement, Ms Mazari-Hazir said an FIR was registered with mala fide intentions, adding that it was lodged without even specifying the purported “act of insubordination” alleged in the complaint.

The Judge Advocate General, the legal branch of the army, lodged the complaint against Ms Mazari for accusing the army chief of arresting her mother, Dr Shireen Mazari.

The former human rights minister was arrested on May 21 by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) in a decade old case. She was however released the same day.

Imaan Mazari further stated that “prior to unlawful and illegal arrest, my mother had informed me that she and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had been involved in two very heated altercations”.

After her arrest, the police authority did not provide her details of the whereabouts and she thought her mother was picked up because of the said development.

“Voicing my reasonable suspicion cannot be categorised as an attempt to “aiding/abetting an act of insubordination by officers/soldiers of Pakistan army”, the statement said, adding that “my only concern at the time was to ensure my mother’s safe return and ensure that a lawful and efficient inquiry is conducted in the matter of her illegal and suspicious arrest. It was and is my right to name the suspects based on the information I had.”

It further said the investigation team inquired whether she had links with extremists or foreign elements which she denied vehemently, adding that in response to a question regarding her foreign travel, she told the investigation team that after her father was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in Jan 2021, she never travelled abroad.

Justice Minallah remarked that the FIR may be withdrawn since Ms Mazari-Hazir had stated that she levelled the allegations under stress.

The court, however, issued notice to the complainant and the police and adjourned the hearing till June 9.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2022