Interim interior minister denies receiving any call from Imran

ISLAMABAD: Interim Interior Minister Azam Khan on Wednesday denied that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan called him to remove Zulfi Bukhari’s name from the blacklist.

Addressing the media in Islamabad, the interim head of the Interior Ministry said Bukhari was permitted to leave the country for six days to perform Umrah. He said Bukhari sent an undertaking to the interior secretary, requesting that he should be given permission to leave the country for a month. However, he said permission was granted just for six days.

Further, Azam Khan said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had requested to add Bukhari’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL), but the interior ministry placed his name on the blacklist instead, in accordance with the Passport Act. He said prior permissions were required as part of a longer process to place a name on the ECL.

The caretaker interior minister lamented that false reports about the matter in the media had prompted interim PM Nasirul Mulk to seek an explanation from him. “He [PM Mulk] asked me what was going on in the media, I updated the premier on the matter immediately,” Azam Khan said.

Earlier on Tuesday, PTI chairman Imran Khan had also denied making calls to Azam Khan to request for Bukhari’s departure from Pakistan. On June 14, Bukhari moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against his name being placed on the ECL.

Bukhari, Imran Khan’s close aide, proceeded to Saudi Arabia with the PTI chairman on June 11. Bukhari moved the court against his name being placed on the no-fly list hours after returning to the country. Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC issued notices to respondents after hearing the petition.

In his petition, Bukhari said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had summoned him in connection with companies named in the Panama Papers. He said he only received the notices after his father forwarded them to him in London. Since he is ordinarily a resident in the United Kingdom, Bukhari said he had not violated any law of Pakistan.

Published in Daily Times, June 21^st 2018.