PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed the interior ministry to respond to a petition seeking removal of the names of 12 Pakistani workers from its ‘black and negative list’ for their return to Bahrain.

Acquitted by an anti-terrorism court of terror financing last year, they also sought the high court’s orders for the State Bank of Pakistan to allow the opening of their bank accounts in the country.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed M Attique Shah and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah issued notices to the respondents, including the interior ministry, SBP and counter-terrorism department (CTD) Peshawar, seeking their response to the petition filed by 13 residents of North and South Waziristan tribal districts, including 12, who were deported by Bahrain in 2019.

The petitioners requested the court to issue directions to the respondents to remove their names from the interior ministry’s black and negative list and allow them to return to Bahrain for resumption of work. They also sought orders for the SBP permission to open bank accountsin the country.

Petitioners were acquitted of terror financing last year

Their lawyer, Syed Umar Ali Shah, said Ashir Rashid and his 11 other clients worked in Bahrain, while the 13th one, Raz Mohammad, had a business in South Waziristan tribal district.

He said 12 petitioners were arrested in Bahrain through Pakistan’s intelligence agencies and were deported to Pakistan in 2019, whereas the last petitioner was taken into custody in Tank district.

The counsel said the intelligence agencies freed his clients after thorough investigation but the CTD Peshawar registered a concocted case against them on July 3, 2019, on the basis of reports, which claimed that a number of activists of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, especially from Wazir tribe of North and South Waziristan districts, were involved in raising funds for the terrorist outfit in Bahrain.

He said those allegations led to the placing of the names of the petitioners on the interior ministry’s black and negative list, which imposed travel and banking restrictions.

The lawyer said after the registration of the FIR, the petitioners had approached an anti-terrorism court for pre-arrest bail, which was granted on Oct 9, 2019.

He added that the petitioners later filed an application with the ATC under Section 265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure for acquittal before the conclusion of the trial.

The counsel said the application was accepted on June 9, 2020.

He said his clients repeatedly approached the respondents for the removal of their names from the black and negative list and even filed an application with the National Counter Terrorism Authority for the purpose and learned that they’re free from the terror financing charge, but their names continued to be on the list.

The lawyer said the petitioners weren’t allowed to return to Bahrain to resume work and collect salaries and the money lent to the people to feed families.

He also said his clients were stopped from opening accounts in banks regulated by the SBP.

The respondents in the petition are the interior ministry through its secretary, SBP through its governor, CTD Peshawar through its additional inspector general, Federal Investigation Agency, and Intelligence Bureau.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2021