PHC seeks FIA report on offloading

Student alleges offloading delayed studies in Türkiye

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has sought a detailed report from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on a petition filed by a student who alleged that he was prevented from travelling to Türkiye to pursue nursing studies and was offloaded from his flight at the airport.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Babar Sattar heard the petition filed by Yousaf Khan, who has secured admission to a university in Türkiye.

Counsel for the petitioner, Habib Anwar Advocate, told the court that Yousaf Khan was travelling to Türkiye to attend university classes when he was stopped and offloaded at the airport. He said the student had been offloaded twice, on July 28 and August 13.

The counsel maintained that classes at the university were scheduled to begin in September and that any further delay could adversely affect the student's academic year.

Justice Syed Arshad Ali questioned FIA officials whether restrictions were now being imposed even on pursuing education abroad.

The FIA assistant director told the court that no one was being prevented from studying. He said the student's documents had been examined when he was offloaded on August 13 and officials found that he had previously studied computer science.

The FIA official argued that if the petitioner intended to pursue nursing, he should have studied biology. Officials also said they had contacted the university, which informed them that the student was required to deposit $4,000.

The petitioner's counsel told the court that Yousaf Khan had so far deposited $1,000 in university fees.