Decision on placing Nawaz, Maryam's names on ECL upon their return: minister

ISLAMABAD: A three-member committee will decide whether or not to place the names of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz on the Exit Control List (ECL) on a request by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). 

This was stated by Caretaker Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Syed Ali Zafar.

Speaking to journalists outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the minister said the prime minister had formed a three-member committee to take a decision about putting the names of the former premier and his daughter on the ECL.

He said the anti-graft watchdog has requested the government to place the names of Mr Sharif and his daughter on the no-fly list, but no decision had so far been taken in this regard.

He said that the committee comprising Interior Minister Mohammad Azam, Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar and himself would review the matter after the two return to the country from London.

He said this issue couldn’t be taken up at the moment because they are in London in connection with treatment of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.

Earlier, in a letter available with ARY News, the anti-graft authority had requested the ministry to put before the cabinet, the matter of placing names of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, sons Hussain and Hassan Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retired) Muhammad Safdar on ECL citing apprehension that they may leave the country as the references against them are “at the final stages of the trial.

Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and his family members are facing three references pertaining to the Avenfield properties, the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Flagship Investment Co filed by the NAB under the directives of the Supreme Court in its July 28, 2017 Panama Papers judgement.

Sharif, 68, was disqualified by the Supreme Court for not being “honest and righteous” as he failed to declare in 2013 a salary he got from the company of his son in the UAE. In February, the top court also disqualified him as the head of the ruling PML-N.

NAB courts are hearing corruption references against him and his family members.