Senator Rabbani proposes amendment in ECL law

Asks for binding govt to give reasons in 24 hours for placing a person’s name on no-fly list

ISLAMABAD: Former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani has proposed amendments in law to bind the government to list the basis for placing anyone’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL) and communicate these reasons in 24 hours to the individual concerned.

Senator Rabbani has given notice to the Senate Secretariat for moving a Private Member’s Bill, “The Exit from Pakistan (Control) (Amendment), Bill, 2018.” The bill seeks to amend Section 2 and 3 of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981.

According to the bill, some provisions of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance are in conflict with the fundamental rights conferred by the Constitution. It claims that the amendments, based on the apex court’s observations in several cases, will harmonise the ordinance with the Constitution.

Currently the sub-section 2 of Section-2 of the ordinance states that before prohibiting any person or class of person from proceeding from Pakistan to a destination outside the country, it is not mandatory for the federal government to show cause to the person.



The sub-section 3 of section 3 of the ordinance says the federal government’s decision to place anyone on the ELC shall be final and shall not be called into question before any court or other authority.

Proposing amendments in the law, the bill proposes  that the federal government shall specify the grounds on which the order is proposed and shall communicate such grounds within twenty-four hours of the order to the person or class of persons prohibited to leave the country, it proposes.

The sub-section 3 of section 3 of the said bill provides that the federal government shall decide the representation within fifteen days, failing which the order made shall lapse.

Interestingly, Rabbani, who belongs to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has proposed the amendments at a time when the topmost leadership of his party is facing serious charges of corruption.

Recently there were reports doing rounds that the PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s and his sister Faryal Talpur’s names were placed on the ECL in view of an ongoing probe into alleged money laundering by the siblings. However, later these reports proved wrong.

For the first time in the recent past, the process for placing someone’s name on the no-fly list or the ECL was rationalised by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan during his tenure as the interior minister in the last Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government.



In view of the controversies revolving around the ECL, a comprehensive review of it was carried out in consultation with the referring agencies in 2015. It was found out that despite a provision of review after every three-year cases of people were pending for as long as 30 years.

At least 9,750 individuals whose names were put on the ECL for years on petty charges were removed. Moreover, the ECL at the Ministry was electronically linked to IBMS installed at all 18 Entry/ Exit Ports countrywide, which allowed a real-time update to all department linked to the IBMS to plug loopholes.

However, later on when Ahsan Iqbal replaced Nisar on August 2017, the policy regarding the ECL was revised. Now a sub-committee of the cabinet was made responsible to take decision regarding the ECL.

This sub-committee which is headed by the interior minister has no direct authority for placing the names of individuals on the no-fly list as this body too may only forward its recommendations and its federal cabinet which has got the final authority.