PHC orders govt to remove Asma Alamgir's name from ECL

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday ordered federal government to remove the name of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asma Arbab Alamgir from the Exit Control List (ECL), ARY News reported.

The PHC bench ordered the Interior Secretary to appear before the court tomorrow if the matter wouldn’t resolve today.

Asma Arbab Alamgir had filed contempt of court petition against the federal government over failure to comply the court orders for removing her name from the no-fly list.

The petition stated that the high court had directed to remove Ms Alamgir’s name from the ECL, but the federal government fails to implement court orders.

While talking to media, Ms Alamgir said her name was kept at the ECL for one year but the government intends to keep on her name in this list.

“The trial court has granted me permission but the government is came (in power) to take revenge,” Alamgir claimed.

Blasting the government Asma Alamgir said that the government resorted to victimization of the opposition. She claimed that the court decisions not being complied in the new Pakistan.

It is noteworthy to mention here that the PHC had directed the Ministry of Interior on April 24 to remove Asma Alamgir’s name from ECL.

The order was issued by a division bench comprising Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Musarrat Hilali after hearing a writ petition filed by PPP leader Asma Alamgir challenging the presence of her name on ECL despite the expiry of one-year period.

An accountability court had indicted the couple once again after removing the part regarding foreign properties from the reference on February 12.

It is pertinent to mention here that Asma Alamgir and her spouse, Arbab Alamgir, who is also a PPP leader and ex-communications’ minister, were facing charges of accumulating assets beyond their known sources of income in a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).