Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) former provincial minister Fazal Hakeem Khan and Shafiullah Jan approached the Peshawar High Court against their inclusion in the Exit Control List.
The petitioners’ counsel, Bashir Khan Wazir Advocate, presented important points before the court. The counsel took the position that the government neither gave any reason nor issued any show cause notice before including his clients in the ECL list, which is a violation of Article 10-A (Fair Trial).
The petition also indicated that since the petitioners belong to the opposition party (PTI), they are being targeted on political grounds to restrict their public and political activities. The court was told that freedom of movement is a fundamental constitutional right of every citizen, and there must be solid legal reasons for putting any citizen’s name in the blacklist or PCL, which is missing in this case.
A bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Muhammad Fahim Wali issued the following orders after hearing the arguments. Notices were issued to the federal government (Ministry of Interior) and the Director General of Passport and Immigration.The court ordered that the federal government should clarify by the next hearing under which law and on what charges the names of these MPAs were included in the list. The concerned authorities have been directed to produce all necessary records related to this matter in the court.
The case has come to light at a time when NAB has also started an investigation against Fazal Hakeem Khan for alleged assets beyond means. However, PTI leaders said that all these steps are being taken to increase political pressure.
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