ISLAMABAD: A divisional bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday suspended the single-member bench order in the visa extension case of Turk teachers.
The bench also served notices to the interior ministry and other respondents in the case to submit their reply on the next date of hearing. A divisional bench (DB) of the IHC comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the intra court appeal of Pak Turk Education Foundation (PTEF) against the single -member bench verdict.
The counsel for the petitioner, Babar Sattar Advocate appeared before the court.
He argued that due process was not adopted by the interior ministry to issue directives to the teachers to leave the country.
He said that non extension of visas and the repatriation of the Turk teachers, imparting education in Pak Turk schools, would affect the future of the students.
He said 11,000 students were currently studying in 26 Pak-Turk schools across the country. He prayed the court to set aside the single-member bench verdict regarding the matter.
It may be mentioned here that a single-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamir Farooq on November 17, directed the PTEF to resubmit the visa extension applications of Turk teachers with the interior ministry and disposed of the petition.
After an attempted coup Turkey’s Ambassador called on the Pakistan government to close down all the institutions in Pakistan backed by the Fethullah Gulen-inspired Hizmet movement.
The network of 28 schools and colleges in Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur and Jamshoro has a staff strength of 1,500 who teach around 11,000 students from pre-school to A level.
Although the Pak-Turk network officially denies being linked to “any political or religious movement”, it is widely believed by the Turkish government that the schools were being run by the supporters of Gulen in several countries, including Pakistan, for decades.
Physical remand: A lower court of Islamabad has granted a one-day physical remand of an accused allegedly involved in a forged British visa case.
The accused, Ghulam Abbas, was produced before the Judicial Magistrate, Abdul Ghafor Kakar, by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The FIA informed the court that the accused had applied for an American visa and had made a fake British visa stamp on his passport.
The official requested the court to grant a seven-day physical remand of the accused for further investigation. After hearing the arguments, the court granted a one-day physical remand of Ghulam Abbas and directed the FIA to produce him before the court on Thursday.