KARACHI: Removal of adviser’s name from ECL ordered
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 7: The Sindh High Court ordered on Tuesday omission of provincial adviser Mohammad Waseem Akhtar’s name from the exit control list.
The adviser, who belongs to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, stated through Advocate Rizwan H. Nadeem that his name had been included in the exit control list without any reason, though he had been allowed to proceed abroad under court orders.
He said there was no case pending against him and the foreign travel ban on him was clamped by the previous government in order to victimize him for his political affiliation. The decision arbitrarily curtailed his fundamental and constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of movement.
The interior ministry said in its comments that the ban was imposed under the Exit Control Ordinance, 1981, at the behest of intelligence agencies and the National Accountability Bureau. Asked whether any inquiry, investigation or case was pending against the petitioner, the ministry replied in the negative. Federal government counsel Mahmood Alam Rizvi conceded that the action was untenable in the absence of a case or inquiry.
A division bench consisting of Justices Mushir Alam and Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery ordered that the petitioner’s name should be taken off the exit control list.
DETENTION CASE: The Sindh High Court summoned on Tuesday two police officials who have allegedly detained a man from Balochistan at the behest of a district nazim in order to occupy his land.
Alleged detainee Azmat Kalpar Bugti’s mother submitted through Advocates M. Asraff Kazi and Sajid Munir Shah that her son was first implicated in false cases and when he was granted bail by competent courts, he was unlawfully detained under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.
She alleged that the Kashmore district nazim and the taluka nazim wanted to occupy 50 acres owned by Azmat in Jaffarabad, Balochistan.
In order to frustrate court orders for bail in four cases, DSP Abdul Khaliq Waggan and Tangwani SHO Sajan Chachar confined him under the MPO. Subsequently, a letter was addressed by the the Kashmore district police officer to the home secretary for permission to detain Azmat under the MPO to validate his illegal arrest.
As the petition came up before a division bench comprising Justices Rehmat Husain Jafri and Yasmeen Abbasey, a provincial attorney stated that he was not aware of alleged detention under the MPO and comments might be sought from the police officers concerned.
The bench summoned the DSP and the SHO and also directed them to file their comments on the habeas corpus petition. The petitioner’s counsel was asked to produce the relevant bail orders.
