The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday ordered the removal of prime minister's aide Syed Zulfi Bukhari's name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

The interior ministry had placed Bukhari's name on the ECL in August upon the National Accountability Bureau's request after he was accused of owning off-shore companies in the British Virgin Islands, and of owning assets beyond his known sources of income.

Bukhari — who is the prime minister's special assistant on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development — had challenged the decision in the IHC in October.

A two-member IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had reserved its decision on the petition in a previous hearing on Dec 4, and today announced its verdict in the case, ordering the removal of Bukhari's name from the no-fly list.

The court directed NAB to continue its inquiry against Bukhari as per the law.

The verdict stated that the court's decision today would not affect the NAB inquiry and noted that Bukhari was cooperating with the bureau.

It further noted that NAB had itself given Bukhari permission to go overseas once and that there was nothing on the record to show that Bukhari wasn't cooperating with the bureau.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader is facing another case in the Supreme Court, where his appointment as premier's aide was challenged on account of his holding dual nationality.