After a trial lasting for over fifteen months a field general court martial finally announced its decision convicting Lt-Gen. Faiz Hameed (R) and sentencing him to 14 years of rigorous im-prisonment. This conviction is on multiple charges including violation of the official secrets act, misuse of authority and political interference. He was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army in August 2024 against four charges, including engaging in political activities, violating the Official Secrets Act in a manner “detrimental to the safety and interest of the state”, mis-use of authority and government resources, and causing wrongful loss to individuals. This is an exceptional and a historic military court ruling because no general who has served as the top man in the ISI has ever been taken into custody or asked to answer for his doings as DG ISI. This conviction concerns two major political parties of the country that is the PTI and the PMLN and the military establishment. The general had a phenomenal and meteoric rise in the army and was a fiercely ambitious person who openly sought to be the chief of army staff Pakistan’s most powerful position and this attitude brought him in direct conflict with the current army high command as Faiz Hameed was one of the four or five generals aspiring to become the next army chief. The general’s troubles and eventual court martial began with the 2017 scandal concerning a private housing development company. The general and his younger brother were found guilty of trying to seize control of the housing project by arresting and beating up the real owner of the housing project.
Faiz Hameed apparently used the rangers to raid the residence of the owner and intimidate him. Faiz Hameed remained the DG ISI from 2019 to 2021 and during this time he became renowned as the country’s most feared official. Politicians were arrested on fabricated charges and he ran the Govt. of the day from behind the scenes and according to the New York Based Pakistani journalist Raza Rumi his pursuit of personal advantage was “Unusually brazen” These allegations, now brought into sharper focus through his court-martial, underline the scale of irregularities that had gone unchecked for years.” “It sends a strong message to Imran Khan Supporters that they should not expect his release any time soon and that they should back off from their recent protests,” said Omar R. Quraishi, a columnist for The News, an English daily news outlet based in Karachi, Pakistan. “It’s also a strong message to military officers to stay in line.”
Serious tensions began to simmer between Imran Khan and the COAS General Qamar Jawaid Bajwa in mid 2021when everything appeared to be perfectly fine with the civil military lead-ership and they were supposedly on the “Same Page” The main cause of friction between the two was the DG ISI Faiz Hameed who the COAS wanted to be transferred out of the ISI but Imran Khan was not ready to issue the required notification of the transfer of Faiz Hameed. The general had persuaded Imran Khan to block his transfer and Imran Khan believed that removing Faiz Hameed will be dangerous for his regime.
Immediately after the verdict was announced these was a flood of allegations against Faiz Hameed. Ex-Chief Minister of Baluchistan Sanaullah Zehri claimed that Faiz in collaboration with the COAS had managed the collapse of his elected Govt. by forced defections and the creation of the Baluchistan Awami Party. Khawaja Asif alleged that Faiz Hameed played a critical role in political engineering since 2010 according to him Faiz was responsible for the ouster of Nawaz Sharif in 2017 and the rigging of the elections in 2018 he also alleged that the events of May 9 2023 was a planned conspiracy by some senior political manipulators. Alongside these political allegations sits the 2017 Top City case, in which a civilian property developer accused Faiz Hameed, then DG ISI, of orchestrating an unlawful raid and extortion attempt. That case ultimately triggered the investigation. Taken together, the allegations suggest a consistent pattern: systematic political interference, abuse of authority, and criminal conduct spanning many years either undetected or deliberately ignored by the military’s internal oversight mechanisms. Even after his retirement from the army Faiz Hameed continued to have extensive political contacts and retained many highly classified documents and ignored many formal warnings. It was only when the Top City petitioner approached the Supreme Court in 2023 that the matter moved forward, leading to a Field General Court Martial in 2024 and a conviction in 2025.
For most of his army career Faiz Hameed served directly under Qamar Bajwa specially during Bajwa’s role as Commander of the 10th Corps so it was no surprise that immediately after becoming COAS Bajwa appointed Faiz to one of the most important positions in ISI that is DG (C) and this appointment thrust Faiz into the forefront of the country’s political arena. His name became prominent when signed the Faizabad Dharna agreement a 21 days sit in by the Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan. Hw was very active meeting politicians, journalists, and busi-ness tycoons and many prominent politicians were seen visiting the general’s village house to meet him something unusual for an officer in such a sensitive position in intelligence. After becoming DG ISI he became more active publicly and it was presumed that his next job will be as the Chief Of Army Staff. Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed has become the very first former chief of the ISI to be convicted on multiple charges and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad
