Daily Times

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted senior lawyer Latif Khosa permission to travel abroad, ordering the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani presided over the hearing of Khosa’s petition, challenging his placement on the ECL. During the hearing, the petitioner stated that his name was added to the Exit Control List (ECL) due to a case filed against him at the Secretariat police station in connection with a protest held outside the Supreme Court.

The court questioned the justification behind restricting his travel, given the minor nature of charges under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Government prosecutors acknowledged that no charge sheet had been submitted in the case filed against Khosa for alleged protest activity outside the Supreme Court.

The court criticised the inclusion of names on the ECL without solid grounds, asking if thousands facing similar charges had also been barred from travel. Latif Khosa informed the court that his earlier flight on January 5 was missed due to the restrictions. He now plans to travel to Canada. The High Court directed Khosa to submit an affidavit in the trial court, ensuring his appearance whenever summoned. The session concluded with conditional approval of his travel request.

Earlier, in October, the Islamabad police had registered a terrorism case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Latif Khosa and 19 other lawyers for burning an effigy of a state institution’s head outside the Supreme Court. The charges were filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and other serious sections of the law. According to media reports, the case was lodged by the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Secretariat Police Station, naming prominent figures including Shibli Faraz, Salman Akram Raja, Tayyab Mustafain Kazmi, Niazullah Niazi, and Azam Swati.

Others listed in the First Information Report (FIR) include Naseem Haider Panjutha, Advocate Ansar, Barrister Gohar, and Abdullah Wazir. The FIR states that the protestors burned the effigy of a state institution’s head and resisted police officers, threatening them with dire consequences. The FIR further claims that the demonstrators chanted slogans, vowing to block court rulings and disrupt judicial proceedings. The protesters also burned tyres, blocking roads. Additionally, more than 100 unidentified individuals carrying PTI flags have been named in the case.