THE Lahore High Court has done well to strike down para 51 of the Passport and Visa Manual 2006 which the federal government invokes to blacklist citizens. Four petitioners had approached the court against being blacklisted and the judge ruled in their favour saying that such blacklisting was unconstitutional. In his judgement, Justice Tariq Saleem said that the Passport Act did not contain any provision for blacklisting and that the right to travel was globally recognised as one of the basic human rights. He said this right could be restricted only under a law made in the public interest, adding that Article 15 of the Constitution expressly stated that the restriction should not only be reasonable but also in the public interest.

By handing down this judgement, the court has struck down a rule that the government was using indiscriminately against citizens on flimsy grounds. Over the years, it has become a norm for governments to slap unnecessary restrictions on people, and especially rival politicians, for reasons that have weak grounding. Discretionary power is liable to be abused, and it usually is. Putting citizens on the Exit Control List for minor reasons is a case in point. Once a citizen is put on the list, it is an ordeal to get off it. People have remained barred from travel for years just because their names once appeared on the list. Such bars on travel have also been used to persecute opponents and put them under pressure for political reasons. It is high time that such practices were reviewed and the government’s discretion to put restrictions on travel curtailed. The courts have had to intervene on behalf of citizens to get them off the ECL but this is not the answer to the problem. The government has to review the way this issue is handled and to revise its methodology so that the basic right of the citizen to travel at home or abroad is not violated.

Time and again we have seen the heavy-handed way in which the government handles such situations because those in power do not want to let go of the authority they believe they can wield through their office. The overwhelming domination of the executive in our system has led to this skewed exercise of authority that tramples on the rights of citizens. It is heartening that the courts are now asserting their powers to check this unbridled use of executive power. By upholding the rights of the people, the courts are acting as an effective check on the abuse of official power. However, a permanent solution to such problems will only be found through a review and reform of laws and regulations that hark back to a bygone era. It is hoped that those responsible for such reform will take their job seriously.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2022