ISLAMABAD, July 20: The Supreme Court issued on Friday notices to the director general of Inter Services Intelligence and the federal government on an appeal filed by a nuclear scientist seeking removal of his name from the exit control list (ECL).

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain had taken up Dr Nazeer Ahmed’s appeal against a decision of the Islamabad High Court which had dismissed his pleadings.

Dr Ahmed is a former chief metallurgist and director general of KRL’s scientific and technical cooperation division and currently working as director general of Hamdard University Islamabad Campus. He was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz on March 23, 1998.

In his petition moved by Advocate Shah Khawar, Dr Ahmed said his counsel had received a letter on July 19, 2004 from the interior ministry asking him not to leave Islamabad without prior information to the director general of KRL Security Division.

The restriction was valid for three months, but another letter was issued on Dec 16, 2004, re-imposing the ban for an indefinite period.

On Oct 26, 2007, the petitioner was advised to surrender his passport to the director general of Immigration and Passport failing which his passport would be cancelled. The letter also stated that Dr Ahmed’s name had been put on the ECL and, therefore, he would not be issued a new passport.

Dr Ahmed made a representation before the interior ministry requesting it to remove his name from the ECL. He also wrote letters to them, but got no replies.

Dr Ahmed said he wanted to visit the UAE, China and Singapore to attend meetings in connection with his duties and to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj and Umra, but he was being denied permission to perform his occupational and religious obligations.—Staff Reporter