KARACHI, Nov 3: A Sindh High Court division bench adjourned on Wednesday the hearing of a petition moved by a former provincial minister against the foreign travel ban imposed on him.

Advocate Akhtar Hussain submitted that Mir Munawar Ali Talpur, a minister in the PPP government, had been acquitted in two accountability cases by the Supreme Court. The only matter pending against him was a case in the anti-corruption court at Hyderabad. However, the anti-corruption court has exempted him from appearance for three months to enable him to proceed to London for medical treatment.

The counsel argued that there was no justification for placing the petitioner on the exit control list. Even if the government was not prepared to drop his name from the ECL, he could be allowed to proceed abroad for treatment.

Deputy Attorney-General Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui sought time for seeking instructions from the federal interior ministry.

Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Maqbool Baqar, who constituted the division bench seized of the petition, allowed his request and adjourned the hearing till Nov 10.

Ship restrained: Justice Ataur Rahman of the Sindh High Court restrained a Japanese-registered ship from leaving the port till further orders.

The order was passed in an admiralty suit instituted by a Faisalabad-based private company. The plaintiff's counsel, Nisar A. Mujahid, submitted that the company shipped a consignment for Thailand aboard container ship Hyundai Sprinter in August 2003.

The consignment was not released to the consignee and was ultimately auctioned by the Thai customs authorities. Two consignments booked on two other ships met a similar fate and the exporter company suffered a big loss, he said.