No decision yet on placing Sharif family on ECL

Cabinet panel would decide the matter after Eid, say party sources

ISLAMABAD: As deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have departed for London, the cabinet committee is yet to mull over placing their names on the Exist Control List (ECL).

The ministry of interior on Wednesday had sent letter to three-member cabinet committee pertaining to placing the names of Sharif family on the no-fly list.

The committee would consist of the Interim Law Minister Ali Zafar, Interior Minister Azam Khan and the Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar.
However, this has been learnt through well-placed sources that the committee would most likely decide about it after the vacations of Eidul Fitr.

Earlier on Thursday Sharif and his daughter Maryam left for London from Lahore airport to visit ailing Kulsoom Nawaz who is being treated in London.

Sharif is expected to return to Pakistan after Eid while National Accountability Court has exempted him for the hearing. On June 11th, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had recommended the Ministry of Interior to add the names of Sharif family including Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar on the ECL due to ongoing investigation in Avenfield properties case.

In the letter the accountability watchdog had stated that the matter of placing the names of accused persons on the list is required to be reconsidered and be placed before the sub-committee of the cabinet.

“This matter is agitated again in view of the fact that references against the subject accused persons are at the final stages of trial. There is apprehension that they may leave the country to avoid legal outcome of the judgments which are expected to be announced shortly,” the letter adds.

Earlier in February the interior ministry had rejected the concerned recommendations of NAB regarding the addition of Sharif and his children name on the list.

Responding to NAB’s letter, the ministry had asked to provide valid evidence against the Sharif family to include their names on the list.

Moreover, on March 16 while speaking in the National Assembly the former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had sought public explanation from the government over its decision to ignore anti-corruption watchdogs’ recommendations regarding the name of Sharif on the ECL.

Nisar was of the view when he was the interior minister the recommendations of NAB in this reference were taken very seriously.
In reply to a query in the National Assembly he said during his tenure as the interior minister for the first ECL policy was reshaped and a committee was formed in the ministry to decide matters on the merit pertaining to the list.