Ex-GB judge's name placed on PNIL, says Sheikh Rashid

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid has said that former chief justice of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim’s name has been placed on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL).

While addressing a presser on Wednesday, the minister said that Shamim's name has been placed on the PNIL so that he does not run away. He further said that a meeting would be held to decide whether to place the former judge's name on the Exit Control List (ECL).

PNIL is a 30-day temporary travel restriction that was introduced in 2018 as an alternative to ECL.

Earlier, the Islamabad High Court had turned down a petition seeking the court’s directions to place Shamim’s name on the ECL. As per an affidavit, Shamim said that former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar influenced judicial proceedings to prolong the detention of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz following their conviction in the Avenfield apartments reference.

He claimed that Nisar had traveled to GB for vacations in 2018 and on one occasion appeared “very disturbed” while speaking to his registrar on the phone, asking him to get in touch with a high court judge.

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Shamim said that Nisar was finally able to get in touch with the judge and told him that Nawaz and Maryam must remain in jail until elections are over, after which “he became calm and happily demanded another cup of tea”.

According to the document, Shamim said he told Nisar that Nawaz had been falsely implicated, to which the former CJP replied: “Rana Sahib the chemistry of Punjab is different from GB.”

'Focus needed on National Action Plan'

Meanwhile, the interior minister said that focus was needed on the National Action Plan (NAP), which has been reactivated recently after a long period of inactivity. Rashid added that those who had brought disgrace to the country would be dealt with strictly in the future.

He further said as per Prime Minister Imran Khan's directives, the nation would be regularly updated on NAP.

His remarks come following the incident in Sialkot in which a Sri Lankan was killed and burnt by a mob. After the incident, which was condemned across the country, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari announced that the government had decided to review the NAP on counter-terrorism.