South Asian Gazette Worldwide News Work
ISLAMABAD: Former Principal Information Officer of the Ministry of Information Rao Tehsin filed an appeal in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the January 27 decision of the court where they dismissed his petition seeking a copy of the Dawn Leaks inquiry report
A two-member bench comprising of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb issued notices on Thursday to the federal government to respond in the next hearing.
IHC had dismissed Tehsin’s initial plea, stating that under Article 212 of the Constitution, there is a bar on a court of law for taking cognizance of a matter where any inquiry tribunal is already established.
Tehsin, the Principal Information Officer of the Ministry of Information at the time of the inquiry was called by the Inquiry Committee to determine, whether he had any role in the leak of details of the meeting in question.
The petition states Tehsin “was never informed about the contents of the Dawn Leaks inquiry report yet he was removed from the post of Principal Information Officer.”
“The public was made to believe that the Appellant [Tehsin] was responsible for the Dawn Leaks, he was a traitor, he attempted to create rift between civil and military establishment .. and he was removed from his coveted post, on the basis of the Dawn Leaks inquiry report, it was imperative for the Appellant to know the contents and findings thereof particularly in respect of himself,” the petition further reads.
Tehsin requested the Ministry of Interior to provide him the copy of the Dawn Leaks inquiry report but the same was not acceded to.
“Being aggrieved of the refusal on part of the federal government to provide [Tehsin] a copy of Dawn Leaks inquiry report, [he] invoked extra ordinary constitutional jurisdiction of this Honorable Court by filing Writ Petition under Article 199 of the Constitution.”
Tehsin was among the officials who were sacked on April 29, 2017 in the wake of the investigation into publication of a controversial news story in the daily Dawn about a national security meeting.
News report that appeared on Oct 6, 2016 claimed that in the meeting the civilian leadership of the country had warned the military that Pakistan could face international isolation if it did not stop supporting some militants groups.
