LHC bars arbitrary passenger offloading
Photo: File
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued fresh guidelines restricting the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from offloading passengers travelling abroad without valid legal grounds.
The court has ruled that citizens possessing valid visas, tickets and travel documents cannot be stopped merely on the basis of vague suspicions or apprehensions.
In a written order, the court directed that immigration officials must record detailed and meaningful reasons before offloading any passenger. It further stated that all questions asked from passengers, along with their replies, must be properly documented.
The LHC ruled that the right to travel abroad is a fundamental constitutional right and that the FIA's powers are not unlimited.
The judgment also directed authorities to electronically preserve interviews or conversations wherever possible and provide a copy of the offloading order or proforma to the affected passenger.
It emphasized that recording reasons is not a mere formality but a legal requirement, adding that administrative powers must be exercised transparently, fairly and strictly in accordance with the law.
Meanwhile, the court declared illegal the FIA's decision to offload a citizen who was travelling to Nigeria and had all required travel documents. The ruling came on a petition filed by citizen Muhammad Abbas.
In a nine-page written judgment, Justice Raheel Kamran observed that the petitioner had challenged the FIA action after being offloaded despite holding valid travel documents, visa and air ticket.
According to the petitioner, he had already received immigration clearance and a boarding card before he was suddenly stopped from boarding the flight. The FIA had argued that the petitioner was prevented from travelling due to concerns that he might not return from Dubai.
However, the court noted that the petitioner was neither wanted in any criminal case nor part of any inquiry, blacklist or Exit Control List (ECL). The judgment stated that the offloading caused the petitioner financial loss, mental distress and reputational damage.
The court further observed that the petitioner's explanation for travelling to Nigeria to visit his brother was not unreasonable, and the FIA had failed to record any valid reason for rejecting his explanation. It said the affected citizen may also approach the relevant forum to seek compensation for damages.
Minister of State for Interior & Narcotics Control Talal Chaudhry told the National Assembly on May 23 that passengers travelling abroad, even with valid passports and visas, are sometimes subjected to additional profiling and screening to stop misuse of legal travel channels.
He stated that this system helped identify high-risk travel patterns linked to smuggling networks, though it had also led to complaints from passengers who were offloaded despite having complete documents.
Talal said strengthened monitoring had reduced illegal migration attempts by an estimated 47%, calling this a significant improvement. He stressed that the purpose of the system was not to stop genuine travellers but to block human smuggling networks.
The minister said, under the prime minister's zero-tolerance policy on illegal immigration, strict action is being taken against human smuggling networks operating in and outside the country.