'Defiant' ministry put on notice.

LAHORE -- The Lahore High Court (LHC) again issued a notice to the Interior Ministry and adjourned till January 14 the hearing of a petition filed for the removal the names of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar from the Exit Control List (ECL).

The petitioner informed Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh that the interior ministry was not providing the copy of written orders under which their names were placed on the list.

The court then issued a notice to the ministry of interior and sought a reply in this regard. An application in the writ petition had earlier been filed seeking direction to the Interior Ministry to provide a copy of the government orders under which their names were put on the Exit Control List (ECL).

The civil miscellaneous application was submitted by Amir Zaheer Advocate. The applicant says that the court had ordered to submit a copy of the order but the Interior Ministry was reluctant to provide the same. He requested the court to order the Interior Ministry to provide a copy of the order as per the court orders.

The petition stated that according to the LHC's decision, the interior ministry had to listen to the position of Nawaz, Maryam and Capt Safdar. before placing their names on the ECL. It asked the court to give an order to remove the names of the three from the ECL.

Their names had been placed on the ECL after the orders of the federal cabinet. In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, the federal cabinet had decided to place their names on the no-fly list as it announced to expedite the repatriation of 'absconding criminals'. The government had placed their names on the ECL on Aug 22 on the request of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Besides, Mr Nawaz and Maryam on Oct 3 filed an application with the interior ministry, requesting it to remove their names from the ECL.

However, the information minister had responded to the request saying that the interior ministry cannot entertain the request of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on its own as it has no authority. He added that the cabinet had placed their names on the ECL; the interior ministry may refer the matter to the cabinet.

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