Islamabad High Court on Tuesday suspended a flight ban notification from the Federal Investigation Agency, which barred two PTI leaders from exiting the country. In a temporary relief, the court allowed Shahbaz Gill and Shahzad Akbar to travel abroad. Following the decision, the court adjourned the hearing till tomorrow.
On Sunday, the Federal Investigation Agency placed the names of six key aides of the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, on the “stoplist”.
Sources privy to the matter state that PM’s former principal secretary Azam Khan, ex-special assistant to PM on political communication Shahbaz Gill, ex-adviser to PM on interior and accountability Shahzad Akbar, Director-General Anti Corruption Punjab Gohar Nafees, and DG Federal Investigation Agency Punjab Zone ll Mohammad Rizwan have been added to the list.
The “stoplist” helps the FIA stop individuals wanted in heinous crimes from exiting the country without the permission of the state authorities.
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According to the Islamabad High Court, the petitioner argued that only those involved in heinous crimes could be put on the “stoplist,” Hence, their names should be relieved.
Ex-adviser to PM on interior and accountability Shahzad Akbar and one of the six accused asked the court to inquire as to who gave the orders to put the names on the “stoplist” as there was no government or a cabinet in place at the time.
“There must be a case or a requesting agency for being put on the stop list. The director general of the FIA must reveal the person who placed this order,” Shahzad said.
As the hearing was adjourned till the next day, the court directed the officials of the ministry of interior and the FIA to appear before 10:30 a.m tomorrow and explain who had authorized the placing of the names of the petitioners. The court further added that it expected that the actions were not based on “victimization”.
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The ex-special assistant to PM on political communication Shahbaz Gill was represented by Pansota, who successfully pleaded before the court to suspend “the operation of illegal order.”
thank you Pansota sb https://t.co/1YL95OxpQM
— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) April 12, 2022
After the court had been adjourned, Shahbaz Gill quickly thanked his counsel and wrote on Twitter, “thank you Pansota sb”. Responding to a question regarding his feelings and expectations from the court, especially after the Kanwal Shauzab case, he said that “we’ve always maintained this position that regardless of whether the decision is in our favor or not, respecting the courts is our responsibility.”