News Desk |
Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) requesting it to initiate contempt proceedings against the interior secretary Azam Suleman for not complying with an earlier of the high court.
The ex-ISI chief has filed a petition in IHC and sought contempt proceedings against the official as he has failed to comply with IHC’s order passed on February 27. After a lapse of three months, the ex-spymaster has stated in the petition that the ministry has yet to decide his representation for review of its decision on his travel ban.
Two former counterparts from rival agencies had come together to compile a book on issues ranging from backchannel diplomacy to security and foreign policy.
On February 27 this year, IHC’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had given the secretary a month to make a decision on the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL). The petitioner said that the official was supposed to make a decision by March 27 but he didn’t.
On May 29, 2018, the media reported, Durrani’s name was put on ECL following the Pakistan Army’s request to impose a travel ban on him. The decision was taken a day after Durrani visited GHQ to explain his stance on his book “The Spy Chronicles”. He co-authored the book with the former chief of Indian spy agency RAW Amarjit Singh Dulat.
Read more: Post Pulwama: Revisiting ‘The Spy Chronicles’
On February 22, 2018, Inter-Services Public Relations DG Major General Asif Ghafoor had said that Durrani was found guilty of violating the military code of conduct, adding that a court of inquiry was also ordered against him. His pension and other benefits had already been stopped.
In the petition, Durrani has requested IHC to initiate contempt of court proceeding against the interior secretary for not complying with the court direction and order the interior ministry to decide the matter immediately.
The Spy Chronicles – Rival spymasters sit down to write book
As soon as it hit the market, the book had created a buzz around the subcontinent. After all, two former counterparts from rival agencies had come together to compile a book on issues ranging from backchannel diplomacy to security and foreign policy.
The ex-ISI chief has filed a petition in IHC and sought contempt proceedings against the official as he has failed to comply with IHC’s order passed on February 27.
Also, the authors have discussed policy in Kashmir, raid that killed Osama bin Laden and non-state actors’ role in the seven chapters of the book.
Read more: Spy Chronicles: A one-sided narrative
Reportedly, Durrani takes up most of the pages in the book, while Dulat remains a bit conservative in his approach and mostly echoes the Indian government’s mantra. What sets this book apart is the men behind it.
Perhaps this is, the Hindustan Times reported, the first time two men from rival spy agencies that are loathed and dreaded by people on the “other side” have sat down to collaborate in such a fashion.