Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Saturday submitted a second petition with the Lahore High Court (LHC), seeking removal of her name from the Exit Control List (ECL). The petition has been set for hearing tomorrow (Monday) by a two-member bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi. Maryam had first approached the court with this request two weeks ago on December 7. On December 9, the court disposed of the petition and directed the federal government’s review committee to decide on the matter within seven days.
During the proceedings, Maryam’s lawyer Azam Nazir Tarar had said that the court should change her petition’s status to “pending” and direct the government to decide on the review application. However, the court said it didn’t want to increase pressure on the government by doing so.
In the latest petition filed by her lawyers, Muhammad Amjad Pervaiz and Azam Nazeer Tarar, the PML-N vice president is once again seeking a one-time permission to travel abroad for six weeks from the date of departure. “The respondent government be kindly directed to delete the name of the petitioner from Exit Control List forthwith. Meanwhile, pending the disposal of the instant petition, the petitioner may kindly be granted one-time permission to travel abroad for six weeks from the date of departure,” the petition reads.
The petition has listed the federal government, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and FIA director, director general immigration and passport Islamabad and chairman and director general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as respondents.
The petition requests the memorandum dated August 20, 2018, be declared as “illegal, without lawful authority, void ab-initio and of no legal effect in the interest of justice”. Additionally, it is also seeking the award of “any other relief deemed appropriate in the peculiar circumstances of the case”.
Along with her father, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the government had decided to place Maryam’s name on the ECL on August 20, 2018. Maryam is currently free on bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, in which she is a suspect, but her name remains on the no-fly list.