Sharif family’s names on ECL challenged

LHC gives 15 days to present the impugned order of the ECL

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday overruled a petition filed by the registrar office against the placement of names of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar on exit control list (ECL).

In his order, Justice Faisal Zaman Khan said this objection needed to be examined legally.

Justice Zaman observed that the petitioner did not present the impugned memorandum of the ECL issued by the federal government and granted 15-day time to furnish the same.



In his petition, Advocate Shahid Iqbal Chohan contended that the Ministry of Interior placed the names of Sharif family members on the ECL without issuing any show cause notice to the registrar office.
He argued that the Supreme Court in a decision had made it mandatory for the ministry to first seek point of a view of a person before putting them on the ECL.

Chohan said the ministry had not sought an explanation before placing the names in the ECL.
The act of the government was a violation of the fundamental rights of the Sharif family members and liable to be set aside, he added.
Therefore, he asked the court to pass an order to the interior ministry to remove the names of the Sharif family from the ECL.