Asma Alamgir moves PHC for contempt of court against government

Author: Agencies

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asma Arbab Alamgir, on Monday, filed a petition in Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the federal government’s reluctance to remove her name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Contempt of court petition was filed against the federal government over failure to comply with court orders for removing her name from the no-fly list.

According to the petition, the high court had directed that her name be struck off the ECL, yet the federal government has not yet implemented court directives. Thus, the court was urged to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the federal government.

While talking to media sources, Alamgir claimed that the secretary interior was rejecting to follow judicial orders.

It should be mentioned here that on April 24, the PHC had directed the Ministry of Interior to remove Alamgir’s name from ECL. A division bench, comprising of Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Musarrat Hilali, ordered this after hearing a writ petition filed by the PPP leader.

Previously serving as an adviser to ex-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Alamgir had challenged the presence of her name on ECL despite the expiry of the one-year period.

On February 12, an accountability court had indicted Alamgir and her husband, Dr Arbab Alamgir once again after removing the part regarding foreign properties from the reference.

Dr Alamgir is also PPP leader and has previously served as communications’ minister. The couple was being investigated for accumulating assets worth Rs 332 million, which were beyond their known sources of income by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

In its investigation, the bureau claimed that the suspects were found to have accumulated movable and immovable assets, including a house in G-11/3 Islamabad; 10-kanal land at Mauza Shah Alladitta, Islamabad; a bungalow in F-7/2 Islamabad; prize bonds; a land rover vehicle and several bank transactions.