LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif on Monday approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) against immigration officials of Lahore Airport for not allowing him to go abroad even after the court orders.
Justice Ali Baqar Najafi would hear the application of Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday (today). The registrar office of the LHC however refused to entertain a contempt of court saying the contempt petition did not fall in the category of the cases permitted to be filed during the enforcement of Covid-19 related SOPs.
Shehbaz’s lawyer however filed an application asking the court to ensure implementation of its order allowing Shehbaz Sharif to go to the United Kingdom for medical treatment.
The immigration officials at the Lahore airport had stopped Shehbaz from boarding a reserved flight on the pretext that his name was also included in Provincial National Identification List (PNIL), another category of no-fly list, which was not updated yet.
Justice Ali Baqir Najfi of LHC had allowed Shehbaz Sharif to go abroad for his medical treatment on his petition seeking exclusion of his name from the blacklist.
The court allowing Shehbaz to go abroad had ruled, “Keeping in view the past conduct and travel history, the fact that name of the petitioner is not in Exit Control List (ECL) at this moment, the name of the petitioner in blacklist, if already placed, will not stop the petitioner from one-time visit to U.K. from May 8 to July 3 for his medical checkup from May 08 to July 03. The court had also sought reply from the respondents.
Shehbaz through his counsel contended in his application that the excuse for not permitting the petitioner to proceed abroad was lame and false because a comprehensive mechanism as to updating of Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) placing or removal of names in the stop lists functions round the clock.
It argued that the respondents deliberately disobeyed and defied the court’s order with malafide intention and prayed to the court to get its order implemented.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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