Pakistan court dismisses petition against ISI

Asks petitioners to approach the Federal Services Tribunal

A court in Pakistan has dismissed a petition filed by the civilian officials of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) over the agency's slow and discriminatory promotion process, a media report said Friday.

Islamabad High Court's Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi dismissed the plea Thursday, declaring it as non-maintainable and asked the petitioners to approach the Federal Services Tribunal to file their grievances, reported the News International.

Counsel for the petitioners said that the status of the ISI ivilian employees was not clear and there was only a one-liner budget for these employees, the report said.

ISI counsel presented a sealed confidential report before the court according to which the spy agency acquired the services of these employees.

ISI counsel also argued that promotion was not the right of these employees and rather based on the sole discretion of the authorities, the report added.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge dismissed the case.

Earlier, ISI's 34 civilian inspectors filed a petition in June this year alleging that the spy agency's "slow and discriminatory promotion process" had led to an uncertainty over their status.

During the last hearing of the case, the court directed ISI counsel to brief the court on the agency's service structure so that the fate of the petitioners could be decided.

In its reply, the ISI said the service structure of the agency was a confidential matter and could not be disclosed.

The court, however, noted that the grievance of the petitioners could not be overlooked for the sake of confidentiality.