LHC judge suggests full bench on Gill’s plea

PTI leader seeks removal of foreign travel bar to visit US

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court’s Justice Jawad Hassan has suggested to Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti the hearing by a full bench of PTI leader Shehbaz Gill’s plea seeking the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Gill had made respondents the director general of the FIA,  DG of immigration and passport, chief commissioner of Islamabad, Lahore FIA immigration director and others.

He contended in his petition that he had served at key posts, including chief of staff to former prime minister Imran Khan and was serving as professor in a university in the US for which he had to travel in connection with his professional, research and administrative responsibilities.

The family of the petitioner are residents of the US and his wife has a fractured leg. Being the only one to take care of his injured wife, the petitioner is required to travel to the United States from time to time.

Being an active member of the political party, the petitioner has no intention to remain in the US permanently.

Immediately after the vote of no confidence against the former prime minister on April 10 last year, the name of the petitioner and others were placed on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) by the respondents.

The action was challenged before Islamabad High Court that on April 12 suspended the operation of the PNIL and issued notices to the respondents to appear and satisfy the court that the action was not based on victimisation. Thereafter the respondents removed the name of the petitioner from the PNIL and the writ petition was disposed of on April 18 with the observation that the action of the Federal Investigation Agency of placing the petitioner on PNIL prima-facie does not appear to have been a bona fide exercise of powers besides violating the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

After that the government started registering criminal cases to arrest and place on the ECL the names of leaders opposing it under Section 2 of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance 1981.

The petitioner was also implicated in a number of cases registered throughout Pakistan.

On August 9, an FIR was registered against the petitioner in Kohsar police station in Islamabad and his name was again placed on the PNIL the next day. He contended that five out of total seven accused in the case had either been discharged or declared innocent by the police.

Now it has come to the petitioner’s knowledge that the Interior ministry had on October 17 placed his name on the ECL with approval of the cabinet on October 14, 2022 on the pretext that he was nominated in the FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2023.