August 12th 2024.
In Islamabad, the Pakistan Army made an announcement on Monday that former ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has been arrested and is facing court martial proceedings for his involvement in a housing scheme scandal. The Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the army, released a statement saying that this action was taken in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The army conducted a thorough court of inquiry to investigate the complaints made against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed in the Top City Case.
As a result, appropriate disciplinary measures have been initiated against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed under the provisions of the Pakistan Army Act. Additionally, it has been confirmed that he has violated the Pakistan Army Act on multiple occasions even after his retirement. The process of a Field General Court Martial has been initiated and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has been taken into military custody.
Lt Gen Hameed's tenure as the head of the spy agency from 2019 to 2021 was considered extremely powerful. He was appointed to the prestigious position after the premature removal of then ISI chief and current Army chief Lt Gen Asim Munir. It was reported that the decision to replace Munir was due to then prime minister Imran Khan's dissatisfaction with his performance. However, the army's decision to replace Hameed was strongly opposed by Imran Khan, and it is believed that this was the beginning of a strained relationship between him and the powerful military.
The Top City case gained attention when Moeez Ahmed Khan, the owner of Top City, filed a petition in the Supreme Court on November 8, 2023, accusing Hameed of misusing his authority. According to the petition, on May 12, 2017, ISI officials, at the direction of Gen Hameed, raided the Top City office and his house and seized valuable items such as gold, diamonds, and money. The petitioner also claimed that Hameed's brother, Sardar Najaf, contacted him later to resolve the issue. It was alleged that Hameed himself later met with the petitioner to settle the matter, and during this meeting, the ISI officials extorted Rs 4 crore in cash from the petitioner.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, Justice Attar Minullah, and Justice Aminuddin, heard the case and referred it to the Ministry of Defence for further investigation. In April of this year, the army announced that a high-level inquiry committee, headed by a major general, was formed to look into the allegations.
Hameed voluntarily retired from his position in November 2022, four months before his official retirement date, after the appointment of the current army chief. He was known to be close to then Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa. The position of ISI chief is highly regarded in the Pakistan Army, which has been in power for more than half of the country's 76-plus years of existence, and has always held significant influence in matters of security and foreign policy.
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