PHC declares arbitrary travel bans illegal

Orders 24-hour notice before placing names on ECL, PNIL or blacklists

PESHAWAR:

In a landmark ruling, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has declared it illegal and a violation of constitutional rights to place any citizen's name on the Exit Control List (ECL), Provisional National Identification List (PNIL), blacklist, or Passport Control List (PCL) without prior show-cause notice or opportunity to be heard.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal heard multiple petitions filed by lawyer Mahmood Ali Tori and others on behalf of affected individuals, including students bound for foreign universities, job seekers heading abroad for employment, and overseas Pakistanis facing passport renewal issues in countries such as Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

The 36-page detailed judgment, authored by Justice Sahibzada Asadullah, emphasized that agencies including the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), immigration authorities, and NADRA lack the power to impose travel restrictions arbitrarily, creating undue hardships without justification.

The court ruled that citizens must be informed within 24 hours before their names are added to such lists, allowing them to respond and seek remedies. It stressed that freedom of movement is protected under Articles 9 and 15 of the Constitution, and no administrative curbs can be imposed except in specific circumstances involving public interest or grave emergencies, and even then only through reasonable restrictions.

Petitioners highlighted severe impacts: names like Ahmad Khan, Mazhar, Zulfiqar Ali Shah, and others were added to PNIL without notice, preventing international travel. Some faced detention at airports for 12 to 48 hours, with passports seized. Overseas workers lost jobs and legal status due to non-renewal of passports and visas, while residents abroad risked deportation or arrest.

The court criticized executive-created lists like PNIL and blacklists as mere administrative SOPs or office memoranda, lacking parliamentary approval and effectively bypassing the ECL Ordinance and 2010 Rules. These parallel systems allow authorities to halt travelers at airports without court orders or prior information, violating natural justice and Article 10A (right to fair trial and due process).