Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani on Friday recused himself from further hearing a case related to former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani.
Justice Kayani remarked that he was well aware about the background of the case and was close to issue the ruling, but was forwarding the case to IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah.
He said that there are reasons that he cannot tell.
Justice Kayani said, “the chief justice will set up a new bench to hear the case.”
During the previous hearing of the case, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in its reply stated that Durrani had been involved in interaction with “hostile elements specially Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) since 2008”.
The name of the former ISI chief has been placed on Exit Control List (ECL) for anti-state activities.
Earlier in January, the defence ministry opposed an application seeking the removal of Durrani’s name from the no-fly list. The ministry said that inquiry against the ex-top spymaster is in final phase and he could not be let to go abroad.