LAHORE, Nov 4: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday issued notice to a deputy attorney-general in the proceedings of a writ petition filed by PPP Secretary-General Jahangir Badr, seeking his name to be removed from the government’s Exit Control List and renewal of his passport.

The DAG has been directed to report within 10 days if the federal government’s action against Mr Badr is motivated by political considerations as alleged by the petitioner.

Mr Badr submitted in the court that his name was put on the ECL in 1999 and was not removed from the list since then. The government’s action was prompted by his active involvement in the PPP political struggle. He was issued no show-cause notice for the action in violation of section 2 of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981, he said.

The petitioner’s counsel, Munir Ahmad Khan, pleaded that his client was facing no trial when his name was put on the ECL. Two references against him were filed in 2001 and 2002, charging him with corrupt practices, but his exit from the country was restrained two years earlier, he added.

He submitted that Mr Badr was allowed foreign visits on two occasions, July 2001 and May 2003, and he returned home within the stipulated period of a month each. But the government was now hindering the issuance of a new passport to him as the present was due to expire on Dec 20 this year, the counsel said.