LAHORE, March 12: An accountability court here on Saturday asked the interior ministry to place the name of Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat on the exit control list along with 10 others, including his wife and mother, consequent to the cancellation of his bail by the Supreme Court.

The court agreed with the plea of the NAB counsel, S. M. Nazim, that the accused was in the custody of the court after the cancellation of the bail as stipulated under the law. The court ordered that the accused and 10 other co-accused would not be allowed to travel abroad till the reference was not decided.

The NAB counsel quoted from the law and submitted that once the bail of an accused was cancelled, he had to be taken into custody. If he or she was not arrested for reasons, then the accused was liable to be declared as a proclaimed offender. He submitted that in either case, the accused was in the custody of the court which had to ensure that he or she was made to face all possible legal and judicial consequences.

The NAB court had placed the federal minister, who is also a leader of PPP (Patriots), on the ECL when the Supreme Court cancelled his interim bail which the accountability court granted him in July 2000. he is at present in France.

The court adjourned further hearing of the reference against the federal minister till Monday after it reserved judgment on the federal minister’s plea that his appearance in the court be exempted.

The court called for a complete record of the Supreme Court’s order under which the bail was cancelled. The court also sought from the State Bank of Pakistan a report under which, according to the federal minister, a decision on the payment of the bank loan had been decided by a SBP conciliation committee.

Summoning of the record of the SBP conciliation committee was ordered by the court on the request of the federal minister’s counsel.