LAHORE, May 30: The Supreme Court disposed of a federal government appeal against a Lahore High Court judgment setting aside foreign travel ban imposed on former Punjab minister Mushtaq Awan with permission to the interior ministry to pass a new order and to the respondent to challenge it.

The ex-minister was put on the exit control list in November 1996 after dismissal of the Pakistan People’s Party government. The charge against him was that he got his son appointed as an assistant director in the Lahore Development Authority in violation of the recruitment rules and selection procedure.

Justice Tasadduq Husain Jilani accepted his writ petition, observing that there was no material on record to justify the travel ban. A subsequent inquiry absolved him of the charge.

Awan’s name, however, remained on the ECL as he was arrested in another case by the National Accountability Bureau, which was currently being tried by an accountability court.

The government, meanwhile, challenged the LHC decision. Its petition for leave to appeal came up for hearing before an SC bench comprising Justices Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Tanvir Ahmad Khan and Khalilur Rahman Ramday on Thursday.

After hearing Deputy-General Sher Zaman Khan for the appellants, the bench disposed of the petition with the remarks that the interior ministry could pass a fresh order in view of the subsequent events, which could be challenged by the respondent without being prejudiced by previous court orders.