IHC orders removal of Asad Durrani's name from no-fly list

Hearing adjourned till Dec 3

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday ordered removal of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani's name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

According to the court order penned by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, the petitioner's counsel argued that Durrani retired from the country's premier spy agency in 1993 and that no inquiry is being undertaken against him.

"Durrani would not attend the event of Herat Security Dialogue because he has been named in the ECL," the petition read.

The court order further stated that the defense ministry submitted its written statement according to which an inquiry under Official Secret Act 1923 has been pending against the former ISI officer.

The court, on the insistence of the defence and interior ministries, gave them more time to submit their reports pertaining to the case.

Hearing was adjourned till Dec 3.

The spy chief's name was placed on the ECL on May 29 - a day after the army requested imposing travel ban on him. It is pertinent to mention here that Durrani appeared at the General Headquarters GHQ) to clarify his stance in The Spy Chronicles, co-authored by Amarjit Sindh Dulat, former chief of Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).