CJ IHC Athar Minallah directs FIA to immediately remove names of Shahbaz Gill, Shahzad Akbar from no-fly list.

ISLAMABAD -- Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah rebuked Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials on Wednesday over their failure to abide by the court's directive of temporarily removing the names of two key aides of former prime minister Imran Khan - Dr. Shahbaz Gill and Mirza Shahzad Akbar - from the no-fly list and ordered that PTI leaders names be taken off the "stop list" immediately.

"The government should demonstrate that it will not take actions based on revenge," Justice Minallah said, adding that the court would not allow it. He further directed the FIA director general (DG) not to "harass" anyone.

He made these remarks while hearing petitions filed by Gill and Akbar, who have sought the revocation of the FIA move that bars them from traveling abroad.

Their names, along with those of four other PTI members - namely Imran Khan's focal person on digital media, Dr. Arsalan Khalid; ex-PM Imran's principal secretary Muhammad Azam Khan; Punjab Anti Corruption Director-General Gohar Nafees; and FIA Punjab Zone Director General Mohammad Rizwan - were added to the no-fly list earlier this week.

Subsequently, Gill and Akbar had approached the IHC on the matter and the court had provided them interim relief on Tuesday, suspending the FIA order to place their names on the no-fly list.

At Wednesday's hearing, FIA officials told the court that the PTI members' names were put on the "stop list" amid the "emerging circumstances in the country".

"What had happened? Had a martial law been imposed?" Justice Minallah questioned.

At that, the officials told the court that the complaint over which the PTI members' names were included in the list was received on April 8.

However, at the previous hearing, the petitioners' counsel had argued that his clients' names were placed on the list at around 2am on April 10 - immediately after the National Assembly passed a vote of no confidence against former prime minister Imran Khan.

The FIA further told the court on Wednesday that the complaint was forwarded by the FIA Islamabad Zone. They added that Akbar's and Gill's names had been added to the list "for having assets beyond means".

These statements earned the FIA rebuke from Justice Minallah, who said: "What do you...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT