Stay away from politics, Pakistan SC tells military, ISI

Pakistani Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Zubair Mahmood Hayat (second from left) and Pakistani Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi and Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Pic/AFP

In a rare rebuke to Pakistan's powerful military, the top court on Wednesday prohibited them from engaging in political activities and directed spy agencies like the ISI to operate within the law. Delivering a landmark verdict on the 2017 Faizabad sit-in by the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and other smaller groups, a two-member Supreme Court bench also ordered the government to act against those propagating "hatred, extremism and terrorism".

The court directed all government agencies and departments, including those run by the army like spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to operate within the limits defined by the law.

The bench ordered that members of the Armed Forces were prohibited from engaging in any kind of political activity, which includes supporting a party, faction or individual.

"The government of Pakistan through the Ministry of Defence and the respective Chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force are directed to initiate action against the personnel under their command who are found to have violated their oath," the court said.

Ex-Pak PM can't leave country
Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, was barred from leaving the country due to the ongoing NAB case against him. "My basic human rights have been violated" said Gilani.

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