KARACHI: Sindh High Court’s chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah appointed Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto as a referee judge to decide the petition of supper model Ayyan Ali seeking removal of her name from the Exit Control List.
The chief justice appointed the referee judge after a two-member bench could not reach a consenting order.
Earlier on Dec 01 the two-judge bench comprising Justice Ahmed Ali M Shiekh and KK Agha had issued a split order, deferring from each other in their decisions.
Justice Shiekh dissented from the view of other member and held that the petition was not maintainable with regard to its jurisdiction. However, Justice Agha opined that the petition was maintainable and declared the placement of the model’s name on the ECL as illegal.
Ayyan Ali had filed a contempt plea seeking contempt of court proceedings against the interior ministry, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and others for restricting her from traveling abroad.
The court had earlier on June 02 this year had suspended the interior ministry’s memorandum for the second time regarding inclusion of her name in the ECL and directed it to immediately remove her name from the list.
However, the immigration authorities restrained her from traveling abroad at the Karachi airport on June 15 due to her name still placed on the ECL.
The model, who is out on bail, is facing charges for smuggling currency from Islamabad airport on March 14, last year. The customs authorities had recovered US$506,800 from her luggage.
According to the prosecution, she was trying to smuggle the money from Pakistan to Dubai.