Peshawar High Court has granted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Swati permission to travel abroad, ordering his name to be removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).
According to the written order issued,, the court directed authorities to remove Swati’s name from all travel restriction lists, including the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) and the Passport Control List (PCL).
Swati had challenged the travel ban imposed on him, arguing that the restrictions were unjustified.
Last month, the division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday granted bail to former federal minister and leader of the PTI Azam Khan Swati in the October 4 case registered at the Taxila police station.
The bench comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Sadiq Mehmood Khurram ordered the PTI leader to submit a surety bond of Rs50,000. Swati has been in custody for the past four months and is currently incarcerated in Attock Jail.
During the hearing, Advocate Dr Babar Awan argued that Swati's arrest was unjustified and that protest is a constitutional right of every citizen, which cannot be denied.
He claimed that the police had levelled false accusations against his client. The court accepted the bail plea, opening the way for his release. There are two remaining cases, in which bail is also likely.
This bail decision has also paved the way for the release of other arrested workers involved in the October 4 and 5 protests, including those from Taxila, Hassan Abdal, and Attock cases.
Moreover, in October 2024, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Swati in a case filed under terrorism provisions.
The case, registered at Sangjani Police Station, charged Swati with terrorism-related offences following protests and vandalism.
Judge Abu Al-Hasanat Muhammad Zulkernain presided over the case and approved Swati’s post-arrest bail against surety bonds of Rs20,000.
Swati had been detained under terrorism clauses following allegations of inciting protests that led to property damage. Swati's legal team maintained that the charges were politically motivated.
Furthermore, Swati on Sunday was taken into custody after a raid at his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing Islamabad for allegedly tweeting against senior military officials in November 2022.
He was later produced before a judicial magistrate, who handed him over to the FIA on a two-day physical remand.
An FIR against Swati was registered by the FIA Cyber Crime Wing on November 26 2022 over ‘controversial’ tweets he had posted recently allegedly against government functionaries, including the former chief of the army staff (COAS).
The report maintained that the PTI leader had started a “highly obnoxious campaign of intimidating tweets” against state institutions, including the army chief “with malafide intentions and ulterior motives”.
The FIR was registered on the complaint of the state through Islamabad Cyber Crime Reporting Centre Technical Assistant Aneesur Rehman.
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