Ministry plea quashed: SC allows Ayyan Ali to go abroad

Deputy attorney general contested high court’s jurisdiction over matter

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has allowed supermodel Ayyan Ali to go abroad after quashing an interior ministry appeal to block any such attempt.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, took up the interior ministry’s plea against the Sindh High Court’s January 19 order for removing the model’s name from the Exit Control List.

The model was arrested on March 14, 2015, on the charges of money laundering after customs officials recovered $506,000 from her luggage at the Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport before she could board a flight to Dubai.

A customs court in November 2015 indicted Ayyan for attempting to smuggle out more than $500,000, to which she pleaded ‘not guilty’.

She was granted bail in July 2015 after spending nearly four months in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail — and after her judicial remand was extended at least 16 times.

Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sajid Ilyas Bhatti filed a petition on behalf of the ministry, contending that while the high court could examine the legality of including a person’s name on the ECL, granting permission to the accused to go abroad was “beyond its jurisdiction” under Article 199(1) of the Constitution.

The ministry also argued that the referee judge, Naimatullah Phulpoto, “relied upon the opinion of Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha, and did not even discuss the observations … of the other member of the bench while disagreeing with his opinion”.

During the hearing, the DAG submitted that on the Punjab government’s request, Ayyan’s name was placed on the ECL because she was allegedly involved in the murder of investigating officer Ijaz Chaudhry, whose wife had nominated her as the accused.

The bench asked when was the FIR registered in the murder case. The DAG replied that the case was registered on June 2, 2015. Upon this, the court also said that it was a matter of concern that the investigation had not been completed in this matter. After hearing the DAG’s arguments, the bench rejected the interior ministry’s appeal and maintained the SHC’s order to remove Ayyan’s name from the ECL.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2017.