PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Monday issued show-cause notices to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and immigration authorities over their failure to remove the name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Higher Education Meena Khan Afridi from passport control list in violation of court orders.
A single member PHC bench of senior puisne judge Justice Ijaz Anwar heard the contempt of court petition filed by Meena Khan Afridi. Advocate Bashir Khan Wazir appeared for the petitioner while Ashfaq Ahmed Jhagra represented the respondents.
The petitioner’s counsel told the bench that despite court order of July 24, the name of his client was not removed from the passport control list. He referred to certain letters, placed on file, conveyed to the directors of FIA, Peshawar region and Islamabad, for implementation of the judgement of the court. He also informed the bench that his client was going abroad on August 18 in connection with certain official duties.
The deputy attorney general, who appeared on behalf of the federation, was asked to ascertain as to whether the name of the petitioner was still present in passport control list.
PHC fixes Aug 21 for next hearing of Meena Khan Afridi’s contempt plea
The counsel for the respondent sought time and later appeared before the bench and stated that the petitioner’s name was still available on the passport control list.
“It appears that repeatedly, respondents are violating the orders of the court. In view, thereof, let show-cause notices be issued to respondents to explain that why the order of this court has not yet been complied with,” the bench noted, adding that the respondents’ replies must reach the court within three days and they shall also appear before the court on August 21.
Earlier on July 24 this year, a two member of PHC had declared the government’s move to place the name of Meena Khan on passport control list illegal, ruling that the constitutional right to free movement of an individual could not be restricted merely on the basis of the registration of FIRs.
During the hearing, the government had claimed that the petitioner’s name had been placed on the passport control list on June 5, 2026, on the basis of a report submitted by security agencies.
The bench had declared that the perusal of the report revealed that it contained only general allegations to the effect that the petitioner was involved in anti-state activities and that certain FIRs had been registered against him.
The bench, however, had observed that the respondents failed to produce any material showing that the petitioner had been convicted in any of said criminal cases.
“It is repeatedly held by this court in a number of cases that mere registration of criminal cases, in absence of a conviction or declaration of a person as a proclaimed offender, is not sufficient to curtail the fundamental right to freedom of movement, particularly where the accused has already been admitted to bail by the competent court.”
“The respondents were unable to demonstrate that the petitioner has either been declared a proclaimed offender or convicted in any criminal case. In these circumstances, the petitioner’s constitutional right to free movement cannot be restricted merely on the basis of registration of FIRs,” the court ruled.
Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2026
