KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Monday issued notices to the interior ministry, Federal Investigation Agency, National Accountability Bureau and others in two petitions of Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Memon through which he challenged the placement of his name on the exit control list (ECL) and sought pre-arrest bail.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar directed the interior ministry and the FIA to submit their respective replies on Mr Memon’s petition against the placement of his name on the ECL and put off the hearing to Jan 15.

The same bench directed the NAB authorities and federal and provincial law officers to submit their comments on the petition of the former provincial minister for pre-arrest bail.

The petitions were filed by the counsel for Mr Memon who has been abroad for the past few months.

The former provincial minister submitted in one of the petitions that the ban on his travel abroad was imposed while he was already out of the country. He asked the court to direct the respondent authorities to remove his name from the ECL.

Through the second constitutional petition, Mr Memon sough pre-arrest bail apprehending his arrest by the NAB in a purported inquiry being conducted by the apex anti-corruption organisation.

Demolition of houses stayed

The same division bench that also comprised Justice Anwar Hussain restrained the respondent authorities from demolishing some houses lying in the site map of the Lyari Expressway project.

The bench also directed the deputy commissioner of Central district to appear in court along with the entire record including the site map of the project and put off the hearing to a date to be later pronounced by the court’s office.

As many as 50 residents of different localities including Liaquatabad, Teen Hatti and Angara Goth filed a joint petition against the authorities’ decision of demolishing their houses for the project.

Their counsel told the judges that the respondent authorities informed the resident petitioners that the authorities had planned to demolish their houses for the completion of the project.

He said that the authorities told the affected residents that their houses fell within the ambit of the Lyari Expressway project and that they were required to be demolished for the completion of the project.

He said that the decision to demolish his clients’ houses was taken by the authorities in violation of the Supreme Court’s order on the issue.

The counsel recalled that the apex court had already directed the respondent authorities not to demolish the houses of the affected residents before the verdict of the referee judge.

He said that the authorities were intending to demolish the houses of the petitioners, although the verdict of the referee judge on the issue was yet to come.

The bench restrained the authorities from demolishing the houses till the verdict of the referee judge came and directed the deputy commissioner of Central district to appear in court along with relevant record on the next date of hearing.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2016