ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Friday recused himself from hearing the petition of former Director General ISI Lt-General Asad Durrani (retd) seeking removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).
A single-member of Justice Kayani heard the petition of Durrani and excused to further hear the case and sent the matter to Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah for constituting another bench.
The Defense Ministry had put the name of the former ISI chief on the ECL after he co-authored a book, titled “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”, with Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former head of India’s spy agency, in 2018.
After the book’s publication, the Military Intelligence (MI) had written to the Interior Ministry to put Durrani’s name on the ECL and the same was done in May 2018.
The former spymaster challenged the move in the IHC in 2019.
During the course of hearing, Justice Kayani remarked, he knew the whole background of the case and at one stage was about to pen down the decision.
He added that “although it was a pity” for him to step down from hearing the case yet there are some reasons that he does not want to “state aloud”.
He further said that he was sending it to IHC chief justice who will decide on a new bench to hear the case.
The Defense Ministry had submitted a written reply in the IHC in response to a petition and urged the court not to remove Durrani’s name from the ECL and informed the court that it has evidence which suggests Durrani remained in contact with Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
It also said that it has evidence which suggests that Durrani has been in contact with anti-state elements from other countries since 2008.
Opposing Durrani’s request to remove his name from the ECL, the ministry stated that he had been “interacting with hostile elements” including Indian intelligence agency RAW since 2008 and was likely to be involved in future publications against the interest of Pakistan.
The ministry adopted in its para-wise comments submitted in response to Durrani's petition in the IHC that the former ISI chief's name was placed on the no-fly list for “his involvement in anti-state activities”.
The ministry maintained that Durrani’s name could not be removed from the ECL at this stage because inquiries being conducted against him were being finalised.
It said that the former ISI chief wanted to travel abroad with the intention of participating in international conferences, forums and talks which will have serious national security implications as evident from the recently published book “Honour Among Spies” which was also authored by Durrani and published through Indian publishers/RAW-supported elements.
Durrani in his petition adopted that the Interior Ministry did not decide his representation for review of its decision on his travel ban.
He requested the IHC to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the interior secretary for not complying with the court direction and order the Interior Ministry to decide the matter immediately.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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