Islamabad, Sep 27 (IANS): In a blow to its secret operations, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was asked by the Islamabad High Court to submit details of its statute by which the country's powerful espionage agency was functioning and recruiting its manpower.

According to a petition filed in June this year by ISI's 34 civilian inspectors, the spy agency's "slow and discriminatory promotion process" had led to an uncertainty over the status of the ISI's civilian inspectors.

The high court Thursday directed ISI counsel to brief the court on the agency's service structure so that the fate of the petitioners could be decided, Dawn newspaper reported.

In its reply, the ISI said the service structure of the agency was a confidential matter and could not be disclosed. The court, however, noted that the grievance of the petitioners could not be overlooked for the sake of confidentiality, the Dawn report said.

ISI counsel also said that the matter was related to the federal services tribunal.

However, the petitioners' counsel argued that since there was no set procedure of promotion for ISI's civilian employees, the matter was related to fundamental rights.

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi gave ISI counsel a week's time to submit details and adjourned the hearing till Oct 3.