ISLAMABAD: A retired air marshal, who was arrested last year, has been convicted on a number of charges, including mutiny, and is being detained at a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) mess, a PAF representative informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday.

Retired Air Marshal Javad Saeed was arrested in January 2024, after which his spouse filed a habeas corpus petition for his recovery.

At the time, IHC Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro dismissed the petition and imposed a fine of Rs25,000 on the petitioner as PAF authorities disclosed that Saeed was court-martialled and convicted under the Official Secrets Act.

The judge remarked that since Saeed’s whereabouts were already known, a habeas corpus petition could not be filed for his recovery.

Then, last month, Saeed’s spouse filed a review application against the dismissal and sought his release from PAF’s custody.

The petition stated that after the arrest, Saeed’s pension was stopped, and the government-provided family health services were also discontinued. But later, his wife’s medical treatment was restored.

The hearing

During the hearing of the review application on Monday, a PAF official told the court that Saeed was detained under the Official Secrets Act.

After a court-martial by a PAF tribunal, he was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. The air chief has reduced the sentence by 10 years and Saeed was serving the remaining four-year term.

The PAF official informed IHC that Saeed was detai­ned at an Officers’ Mess instead of a prison, where army officers serve their sentences after conviction as per law.

The petitioner’s counsel, retired Col Inamur Rahim, arg­ued that Saeed was being kept in illegal custody by PAF. He said that as a constitutional court, the IHC was duty-bound to set aside the “unlawful confinement”.

He pointed out that following the conviction, convicts were sent to jail to complete the sentence. However, the PAF kept Saeed in its own custody.

Advocate Rahim said that Saeed was among the contenders for the post of air chief in 2021, but retired from service on March 18, 2021, after he was not promoted as air chief. The officer was taken into custody on January 1, 2024, the lawyer added.

Being a civilian, he could not be tried by the PAF Tribunal, he argued, adding that despite his conviction, Saeed was not handed over to jail authorities.

The PAF official informed the judge that the air chief had declared the Officer’s Mess as sub-jail. Therefore, Saeed was detained there in accordance with the law.

Mr Rahim contested the assertion, saying such confinement was illegal.

He also said that authorities did not share details of the court-martial proceedings, leaving the convict unable to file an appeal in court.

The judge then directed PAF to share relevant details with the counsel and adjourned the hearing till April 29.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2025