Rashid's umrah plea deferred

RAWALPINDI:

A division bench of the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi comprising Justice Jawad Hassan and Justice Tariq Mahmood Bajwa has adjourned until March 12 the hearing of an intra-court appeal seeking permission for former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed to perform Umrah.

The court observed that it would examine in detail the important issue of placing accused persons' names on the Exit Control List or blacklist on the basis of FIRs and would deliver a detailed judgment in light of the Constitution.

Sheikh Rashid appeared before the court along with his counsel Sardar Abdul Razzaq Khan Advocate. Addressing the court, Sheikh Rashid said he had served as a federal minister 17 times but was now being denied permission to travel for Umrah.

He added that he had travelled abroad eight times during the cases related to May 9 incidents and had returned each time.

His counsel argued that the High Court had earlier removed Sheikh Rashid's name from the Exit Control List, but it had again been placed on the PNI list without justification. He maintained that travelling abroad was a fundamental constitutional right of every citizen and could not be denied under provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.