PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
The communication read:
To: General Pervez Musharraf
Subject: Deletion of name from ECL.
I am directed by the competent authority to communicate with you with reference to your request on the subject cited above dated March 31, 2014. The requests have been considered on the basis of record pronouncements of the superior courts on the cited subject and pending criminal cases in various courts. The federal government is unable to accede to your requests in public interest.
Sources privy to the developments and meetings say, however, that the vaguely-worded communique has its reasons - mostly political. It has been suggested that Musharraf's legal team approach relevant courts in order to have the defendant's name removed from the ECL (which is why it was placed on the ECL to begin with).
Last year, the Sindh High Court had put Musharraf’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL), asking him not to leave the country without seeking prior permission from the concerned courts.
Musharraf's lawyer Dr Farogh Naseem had already said that he would move the Supreme Court if the government did not respond favourably.
After the special court read out charges to Musharraf on March 31, and said that it did not have jurisdiction over the ECL matter and it was for the government to decide, Naseem had filed an application with the Interior Ministry to allow Musharraf to travel abroad to seek medical treatment and see his ailing mother.
An Interior Ministry official said that after a high-level meeting and deliberations it was decided that it would be a better option that any decision on the matter should be taken in light of a judicial order. “This is a win-win situation for all,” he added.
“It is more of a political decision and has minimal legal hurdles,” the interior ministry official told The Express Tribune. The government is perhaps weighing its options and possible repercussions of the decision, he added.
A day after the special court indicted General (retd) Pervez Musharraf on treason charges, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif consulted senior members of his party on whether or not to allow the former military ruler to travel abroad to seek medical treatment and see his ailing mother.
Most participants of the meeting – including Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Senators Raja Zafarul Haq and Sardar Mehtab Abbasi – opposed the idea of giving concessions to Musharraf.
Meanwhile, a member of Musharraf’s legal defence team, Rana Ejaz, on Wednesday stated that it was with “secret diplomacy” that Musharraf appeared in court and that the government had deceived Musharraf, Express News reported. Musharraf’s spokesperson Rashid Qureshi denied having any knowledge of Ejaz’s statements.
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