Islamabad High Court has issued notices to former Army Chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former top spy Lieutenant General (retired) Faiz Hameed for violating rules by giving interviews after retirement and misrepresenting events in them.

The notices were issued in response to complaint filed by a private citizen named Atif Ali. Notices have also been issued to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority and Press Association of Pakistan as well as two journalists, Shahid Maitla and Javed Chaudhry, to whom the interviews were given.

In a written order over the petition issued on Monday, Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that the petitioner had repeatedly requested the Federal Investigation Agency to file a complaint but to no avail.

The petition says that Chaudhry and Maitla conducted the interviews solely for the sake of viewership which had a ‘negative impact’ on society. The petitioner said that he had been taken aback when he saw the articles as they could ‘pollute’ society. It added that the garb of freedom of expression was used for a ‘criminal act’.

It further alleges events were twisted in the interviews and that the ‘criminal act’ was conducted through connivance between the journalists and the generals.

The petition says that the the interviews portrayed a negative image of the institution and tried to create a rift between it and the people of Pakistan. Copies of the articles have also been attached with the petition.

The petition asks the court to order FIA to file a case and take action against all involved.