Turkish teachers’ expulsion: IHC issues detailed judgment on plea dismissal

Says asking foreigners to leave the country is any state’s prerogative

ISLAMABAD: Days after the Lahore High Court and Sindh High Court provided some relief to the staff of the PakTurk schools, the Islamabad High Court issued a detailed judgment, explaining why it had dismissed the PakTurk Foundation’s petition challenging the expulsion of its teachers.

Last month, the interior ministry had directed all expatriate staff, teachers, their family members, including children enrolled in Pakistan, to leave the country before November 20. Since then, the decision has been challenged before different courts.



The detailed judgment of Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC explained through several judgments, including one of his own passed in the case of three Filipino missionary workers of the Islamabad Convent School that “the permission to enter or remain in the country is the sole prerogative of any sovereign state”.

Similarly, Justice Farooq stated that permission, once granted, can be revoked. In the judgment, he stated that “leave to foreigners to stay in Pakistan is in the nature of concession/privilege and cannot be termed as a right to remain in the country.”

Since leave to stay in the country by a foreigner is not as of right, he penned, therefore, enforceability cannot be sought by means of constitutional petition.

He placed reliance on a judgment of a division bench of the West Pakistan High Court issued in 1962 observing that government is not bound to give its reason why it doesn’t want foreigners to stay in Pakistan beyond a certain date.



Similarly, he cited a 1980 judgment of Peshawar High Court which declared that the state has inherent powers to restrict entry into its territory or the movements in it of any foreigner.

“This right of sovereign state cannot be hampered with by any principal of natural justice or on the ground of equity as such restriction would not commensurate with the concept of sovereignty of a state.”

Justice Farooq while referring to a judgment of the LHC stated that “it is the absolute power of the government to give or cancel visa, without hearing or giving any reason and such an order cannot be held without lawful authority.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2016.