KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday directed the interior secretary and other official respondents to submit their respective replies on a petition of retired General Pervez Musharraf against the restriction on his travel out of the country.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar put off the hearing to April 23 also directing the deputy attorney general to file comments on the matter.

The petition was filed by former military ruler’s attorney retired brigadier Akhtar Zamin, who impleaded the interior secretary, director general, regional director and additional director (immigration) of of the Federal Investigation Agency as respondents.

Advocate Farogh Naseem appearing for the former military dictator told the judges that the general wanted to visit his ailing mother in Dubai, but the federal government had disallowed him from leaving the country by placing his name on the exit control list (ECL) on April 5 last year without any cogent reasons. He said that trial courts had confirmed Musharraf’s bail in all cases including those pertaining to the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. The counsel said that the special court that indicted the former president for high treason granted him exemption on March 31 from personally appearing in the court and made it clear that it had not issued directives for placing Musharraf’s name on the ECL.

Advocate Naseem further quoted the special court order as observing that the federal government could not refuse to review its decision to place the Musharraf’s name on the ECL merely because the high treason case against him was pending disposal in the court. Subsequently, he said, Gen Musharraf moved two applications to the interior ministry seeking permission to travel abroad. But, the counsel said, they were dismissed illegally and unconstitutionally on April 2. He argued that mere pendency of criminal cases against the former president could not be a justification to place him on the ECL. He said that restrictions on Musharraf’s travelling abroad were against the fundamental right of the freedom of movement and fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 9, 14, and 15 of the constitution. The court was requested to declare the placing of Musharraf’s name on the ECL illegal and direct the federal government to remove his name from the ECL.

Judgement reserved

A single bench of the high court reserved its verdict on a lawsuit against the construction of a flyover and two underpasses by Bahria Town in Clifton.

The bench, headed by Justice Muneeb Akhtar, heard final arguments from the counsel for the plaintiff and the defendants and reserved the verdict to a date to be later announced by the court office.

The Defence Housing Authority moved the SHC against the Bahria Town project alleging that it was being built without complying with the requirements of environmental protection laws and approval from the authorities concerned.

The plaintiff said that Bahria Town had launched the project titled “Bahria Town Icon Tower” near Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Clifton. Later, it also launched traffic improvement project “Grade Separated Improvement Plan” from Park Tower Intersection to AT Naqvi Roundabout comprising a flyover in front of Park Towers in Clifton and two underpasses near Kothari Parade.

The defendant Bahria Town, represented by Advocate Akhtar Hussain, stated that the project being executed in the public interest would not cause any adverse impact on environment. He contended that Sindh Environmental Protection Agency had provided requisite approval for the construction of the project strictly following the environmental laws. He said there was no adverse environmental impact of the project, therefore, the IEE approval for the project and its construction was in accordance with the laws.