PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday disposed of a plea of former federal minister Allama Noorul Haq Qadri after the federal government informed the court that his name had been removed from the no-fly list.

A bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah observed that since the name of the petitioner had been removed from the no-fly list, therefore, his petition was disposed of.

The petitioner had requested the court to declare the placement of his name on the list by the federal government as illegal and also to issue directives for the government to remove his name from the same.

The petitioner was represented by Advocate Qazi Jawad Ehsanullah, who contended that his client intended to go to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. He stated the last Hajj flight would operate on Jun 23 and if his client’s name was not removed from the no-fly list, he won’t be able to perform that religious obligation.

He pointed out that the petitioner was a former federal minister for religious affairs and was not required in any criminal case to the government.

He contended that placing the name of the petitioner on the said list was unconstitutional and illegal and in violation of different constitutional provisions.

A deputy attorney general, Sanaullah, additional director (legal) Federal Investigation Agency, Abdul Rehman and section officer of the ministry of interior, Matiullah, also turned up in the case.

After preliminary hearing, the bench asked the deputy attorney general to ascertain under what provision of law the name of the petitioner had been placed on the no-fly list.

Later, the deputy attorney general and other officials appeared and informed the bench that the petitioner’s name had been removed from the list.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2023