FIA asks Hamza to approach interior ministry against travel ban

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed the federal government and Federal Investigation Agency to submit their detailed response on a petition of opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz seeking to strike his name off the Exit Control List (ECL), ARY News reported.

A high court bench directed the official respondents to submit their response until March 22.

A federal law officer furnished response on behalf of FIA, stating that the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader should approach the Ministry of Interior to have his name removed from the no-fly list.

Hamza’s lawyer, however, said his client had already approached the ministry. “The federal cabinet gave approval for inclusion of his name in the ECL. How can the interior secretary entertain a plea for removal of his name,” he questioned.

He informed the judges that Hamza had returned from abroad in line with the directives of the high court.

The hearing was adjourned till March 22.

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The PML-N leader had departed for London on Feb 3 after the LHC ordered his name to be taken off the Exit Control List. It had granted him a one-time exemption to travel abroad.

The opposition leader is facing a number of corruption inquiries, including alleged accumulation of assets beyond his known sources of income, financial irregularities in the Saaf Pani Company and illegal construction of a bridge at the expense of taxpayers’ money to facilitate the Ramzan Sugar Mills.