Raja Riaz’s name put on ECL

Riaz was placed on the ECL for being a proclaimed offender (PO) in a NAB reference.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed the Ministry of Interior to put the name of Malik Raja Riaz, owner of Raja Centre, on Exit Control List (ECL) for being a proclaimed offender (PO) in a NAB reference.

LHC division bench headed by Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif passed this order taking serious notice of the ‘willful’ absence of Raja Riaz and his counsel from the court. Riaz had gotten interim bail from the LHC against two surety bonds of Rs10 million each on August 11, 2010.

The LHC cancelled his interim bail after the NAB submitted a report and issued non-bailable arrest warrants. However, police have been unable to trace or arrest him since then.  CCPO Aslam Tareen, appearing before the court on Wednesday, submitted that he had raided Raiz’s residences in Lahore and Islamabad but could not arrest him. The CCPO sought two weeks to arrest the PO. The court adjourned the case till October 14.

The court was also requested that since there was a chance of Riaz trying to flee the country, his name should be put on the ECL. Upon this, the court directed the interior ministry to place his name on the list.

The court directed the CCPO to convey the orders of the court to the ministry without delay. According to the NAB reference, Raiz and his co-accused had obtained pecuniary advantage of Rs1,061,774 by fraud and forgery.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2010.