Travel ban: SHC bench to hear Musharraf’s review plea

Wants to visit ailing mother in Dubai, seeks removal of his name from ECL.

KARACHI:

Sindh High Court Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar constituted on Monday a division bench to hear former president Pervez Musharraf’s application for reversing a court order against his travel abroad.

The bench, comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, will take up the plea on December 9.

Musharraf’s lawyer, A Q Halepota, submitted that the trial courts have confirmed Musharraf’s bail in separate murder cases of Benazir Bhutto, Nawab Akbar Bugti, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Rasheed’s mother.

Musharraf wants to leave for Dubai to visit his 95-year-old mother who is seriously ill. Musharraf had earlier indicated his desire to be with his mother upon securing bail, according to Halepota. However, the former military ruler cannot travel abroad since his name has been placed on the ECL by the interior ministry.



The lawyer argued that placing the former president’s name on the ECL was a violation of fundamental rights. Therefore, he appealed to the court to change its earlier order.

On the last date of hearing, the two judges had referred the plea to the SHC CJ with a request to constitute the same bench, which had previously passed the order, to review the same.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2013.