SHC declares Jibran Nasir, wife's offloading 'unlawful'

SHC permits Nasir, Pasha to travel outside of the country 'without any obstruction or hindrance'

Prominent human rights activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir on Thursday said that the Sindh High Court (SHC) has declared the decision by the authorities to offload him and his wife Mansha Pasha and restrict their travel as unlawful.

Earlier this month, Nasir had taken to social media to speak out against action by the authorities preventing him and Pasha from boarding a flight scheduled for Dubai on July 27.

On 27th June my wife and I were scheduled to travel to Dubai via Emirates EK601 to visit my Family for Eid and we were scheduled to return to Karachi on 5th July. We checked in our luggage, got boarding passes, cleared immigration and got the exit stamps but while approaching the… pic.twitter.com/P2Tyh9EwxH

— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) August 9, 2023

Notably, in June, his wife had filed an FIR at the Clifton Police Station of Karachi’s South district against Nasir's ‘abduction’.

“A group of 10 to 15 armed men in a Vigo approached us, forced my husband out of the car, and abducted him. I called the 15 Madadgar police right away after the incident,” the FIR had quoted her as saying.

Later, almost 24 hours after he was taken by the unidentified gunmen in Karachi, police and family members confirmed that the activist had returned home.

When speaking out against the incident at Karachi airport, Nasir had gone on to say that he saw "the incident of 27th June and restriction on my family's travel as a continuation of the unlawful and unconstitutional tactics adopted on 1st June to harass and intimidate me and my family".

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Meanwhile, the couple had moved the high court against the authorities for their apparently arbitrary actions.

Extending his gratitude towards the SHC today, Nasir shared the six-page judgement on X as he lauded the verdict.

Grateful to Hon' SHC for allowing our Petitions and declaring that restricting our travel and offloading us was unlawful and the letter issued in this regard to place my name on the Watch List was without lawful authority as neither any prior notice was given to us in this regard… https://t.co/2sQHampEJo pic.twitter.com/8bdQK6HdU7

— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) August 31, 2023

"The Judgement is a good precedent to challenge similar actions taken against any citizen in violation of the law and constitution," he said.

According to the document he shared, the SHC has ruled that the "letter dated 23.06.2023, issued by the director general ISI to the Deputy Director Immigration FIA, JIAP, Karachi is declared to have been issued without any lawful authority and of no legal effect".

It went on to state that the court held the impugned letter and actions "on part of the federal government prohibiting the petitioners from proceeding abroad by placing their names on the Watch List were without lawful authority and of no legal effect."

The SHC has also permitted both Nasir and Pasha to travel outside of the country "without any obstruction or hindrance by the federal government of its agencies or authorities".