Appointment of DG ISI and Law: Was the Prime Minister ignored in this process?
The appointment of the Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan's state system has never been a simple process. All the processes and stages from the selection of the person to this position to the issuance of consultation and notification in this regard are hidden behind the scenes and behind the scenes.
Apparently, no one, including legal experts and senior government officials, knows which law or regulation contains clear details of the deployment process.
The recent issue of appointment of DG ISI
The appointment of Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum as DG ISI has been a topic of discussion in Pakistan for the past several days. The Pakistan Army's public relations department said about two weeks ago that Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum had been appointed the new head of the ISI. A press release for the deployment was issued by the Army's Public Relations Department (ISPR).
But no notification has been issued by the government so far.
Meanwhile, statements were made by the government regarding the Prime Minister and the Army Chief being on the same page. Rumors have been circulating on social and local media that a new three-name summary has been sent to the Prime Minister's House by the Ministry of Defense, but this has not been officially confirmed.
It is also said that the Prime Minister will interview the Army nominees and only then sign the summary. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that being interviewed before being appointed to a senior post is "a normal practice and now this tradition is also being made controversial."
Earlier, Adviser to the Prime Minister Amir Dogar had said in a program on private TV channel Sama TV that Imran Khan wanted Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed to be the head of ISI for some more time. However, in the midst of all this, there is still a question and that is what does the law say about the appointment of DG ISI?
Appointment and Law of DG ISI
A senior constitutional expert based in Islamabad said that he had recently contacted the Secretary Establishment and inquired from him about the law under which the process of selection, consultation, and deployment of DG ISI would be completed. Is.
The senior legislator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "He (Secretary Establishment) had no answer to this question. He did not know if there was such a law.
Col. (retd) Inam-ur-Rehman, a lawyer and former member of GHQ's Legal Branch, says that under the Army Rules and Regulations Book, Army officers above the rank of Major General All appointments and transfers are the prerogative of the Prime Minister.
He said that till recently the Army Rules and Regulations Book was a 'secret document' but a decision of the Supreme Court has turned it into a 'public document'.
In response to a question, Inam-ur-Rehman said, "Now all the rules and regulations related to the defense forces have been declared public documents and along with this it has been directed that they should also be available to the public." According to the decision of the High Court issued in 2020, every law should be within the reach of the people.
Col (retd) Inam-ur-Rehman admitted that there was no specific or specific law in the law books regarding the appointment of DG ISI. "I think there should be a law on ISI operations and deployments because there is no law that does not provide (legal) justice to any affected citizen," he said.
Senior lawyer Kamran Murtaza says that there is no specific law on the basis of which the deployment process of not only the ISI DG but also other intelligence agencies of the country is clearly recorded.
Kamran Murtaza while showing the notification issued by the Establishment Division for the appointment of Dr. Muhammad Salman Khan, the current Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on May 7, 2018, said, “This is a formal notification. It has been published in the Official Gazette, but no law has been cited in the notification.
'Secret Document'
Senior lawyer Salman Akram Raja explained the reasons why there is no law in Pakistan regarding the work and deployment of intelligence agencies. "The ISI is being run on the basis of an 'internal charter' which is a secret document," he said.
Justice (retd) Tariq Mahmood said that the reason under which ISI operates is to keep it as a secret document. According to him, the reason is that the ISI is an intelligence agency. Its members hide their identities from the public, they keep their activities secret. So the manifesto under which they work is also secret.
However, Kamran Murtaza argues that any legal document that is not a public document cannot be declared law. "If it is not in front of the people, then it is not a law because people living in a society should know what law is in force in the society," he said. Because it involves the offense aspect, the state cannot punish a citizen for an act of which the law is not known to the public.
Section 2B of the Army Act
Kamran Murtaza said that after the discussion on the deployment of DG ISI, he spent three days, scrutinizing the law books to find out any law regarding the procedure or process of deployment of DG ISI. ۔
"After much searching, I have found only Section 2B of the Pakistan Army Act, which can be used for the deployment of DG ISI," he said.
Section 2B of the Army Act stipulates that 'second (temporary transfers) in other Armed Forces shall be made by the Federal Government by written order and in accordance with regulatory terms. Will also be able to make temporary transfers to perform services in other Armed Forces, including the Civil Armed Forces, referred to in sub-section (1) of section 2 (a).
According to Kamran Murtaza, the provision of this particular law is ambiguous and not directly related to the deployment of DG ISI. Since this section sets out the conditions under which an Army officer can be sent to serve in federal agencies, the law may potentially apply to the deployment of DG ISI.
Prime Minister's approval
Col (retd) Inam-ur-Rehman pointed out that the deployment of DG ISI within the organizational structure of the Army is considered part of routine deployments and transfers. He said that all appointments in the Army to the rank of Lieutenant General or its equivalent are made by the Prime Minister of the country.
Col (retd) Inam-ur-Rehman states that as per the Amended Rules of Business 1973 (Rules of Procedure) dated October 8, 2020, all appointments above the rank of Colonel i.e. Brigadier and above have to be made with the approval of the Prime Minister. 2) Provided that appointments to the rank of Lieutenant-General of the Army or other equivalent ranks of the Defense Forces shall be made by the Prime Minister in consultation with the President.
Inam-ur-Rehman said that the seemingly relevant and contradictory fact is that all appointments and transfers are purely at the discretion of the Chief of Army Staff. According to him, the appointment and transfer of officers are purely at the discretion of the Chief of Army Staff and the order of appointment of each officer starts with the words "Chief of Army Staff orders the following appointments ..."
Col (retd) Inam-ur-Rehman said that no appointment in the Army High Rank (Classification) could take place without the approval of the Prime Minister.
Was the Prime Minister bypassed?
This situation raises a lot of questions. The most important question is whether the Prime Minister was bypassed in the selection and consultation process of DG ISI.
Experts and analysts in Pakistan are divided on the issue.
Civil-military relations expert Hassan Askari says that it seems that the army leadership has acted hastily on the verbal orders of the Prime Minister, they did not wait for the paperwork to be completed and that is why we are in this situation. Watching
That is why the whole process of appointments and transfers came to a halt when the Prime Minister objected. Even the appointments mentioned in the press release issued on October 6, 2021, were temporarily suspended.
Hassan Askari said that the professional forces do not accept civilian interference in the internal affairs of appointments and transfers. In the administration of state affairs, not everything is done under a specific law, sometimes conventions and traditions play a more important role in this regard and the same is true of the deployment of DG ISI.
According to Hassan Askari, this work has been done in accordance with conventions and traditions. Saeed Shafqat, an analyst on military and security issues, categorically rejected the notion that the prime minister had been ignored in the process of deploying the DG ISI. He lamented that the civilian leadership seemed to be completely deprived of the Army's procedures and the way it handled its affairs.
"It is very unfortunate that the civilian leadership has not made any serious effort to understand how the army works and conducts its affairs with the consensus of the top leadership of the army," he said."I do not think the prime minister has been bypassed," he said. It is a matter of trust that was established in a private conversation between the two. I will give more weight to what he (Chief of Army Staff) sent in writing.