Pak SC asks ISI to specify date by which it would remove blockades from road outside its HQ

Pakistan's Supreme Court today asked the powerful spy agency - the ISI - to specify a date by which it would remove the blockades from the main road in front of its headquarters in the national capital.

A three-member bench led by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, however, suspended an earlier Islamabad High Court (IHC) order asking the Inter-Services Intelligence to remove barricades within a week.

On June 22, IHC's Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had directed the ISI to clear the portion of Khayaban-i-Suharwardy in front of its headquarters in a week.

The defence secretary today challenged the high court's directive, arguing that the IHC did not have the authority or jurisdiction to take up suo motu notices and rule on such matters, Dawn reported.

Justice Nisar suspended the IHC decision, saying: "The high court does not have the right to take suo motu notices; we suspend its order."
"We will open the road but there are security issues," he said. "We should be given time for the security concerns to be eliminated."