IHC dismisses plea to put ex-CJ Rana Shamim's name on ECL

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed on Monday a petition seeking to place the name of former chief judge of Gilgit Baltistan, Justice (retd) Rana Shamim on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Chief Justice Athar Minallah announced the reserved verdict on the petition filed by Advocate Rai Nawaz Kharal. He earlier today reserved the verdict on the maintainability of the petition after hearing arguments from the petitioner.

The counsel submitted that the ex-GB judge served as an office-bearer of the PML-N’s Sindh chapter. The previous PML-N government appointed Rana Shamim as the chief judge of Gilgit Baltistan, he claimed.

He apprehended that ex-CJ Shamim might flee abroad, pleading that his name be put on the no-fly list.

The petitioner filed a separate application seeking to become a party to the contempt of court proceedings against the former GB judge and others.

It is pertinent to mention here that the IHC initiated the contempt of court proceedings against Rana Shamim after he alleged in a notarised affidavit that former chief justice Saqib Nisar had directed a high court judge to not release ex-PM Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on bail at any cost before the 2018 general elections.