Supreme Court permits Ayyan to leave country

Supreme Court on Monday turned down the appeal of the Federation filed against removal of model Ayyan Ali's name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and upheld the Sindh High Court's verdict in the matter.
Accepting the plea of Ayyan Ali on January 19, Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto of the Sindh High Court had issued directives to the authorities concerned to remove her name from the ECL. However, accepting the Federation's plea that sought time to challenge the High Court's verdict before the apex court, he had suspended the order for 10 days.
Earlier, hearing the case of Ayyan Ali, the SHC's Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah appointed Justice Phulpoto as referee judge to decide the supermodel's petition after one of the judges of a division bench rejected her plea.
Challenging the SHC's verdict in the matter, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sajid Ilyas Bhatti requested the apex court to reject decision on the grounds that granting permission to the accused to go abroad was out of the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 199 (1) of the Constitution.
Bhatti also submitted that any person whose name had been placed on the no-fly list could only seek permission for travelling abroad from the court in which his/her case was being tried instead of the High Court.
Appearing before a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, the Deputy Attorney General pleaded that Ayyan Ali's name was placed on the ECL on the request of the Punjab Home Department (in the murder case of Customs Officer Ejaz Mehmood).
To which, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar asked Bhatti how many murder suspects' names had been put on the ECL previously, adding that the referee judge of the SHC has issued a plausible verdict in the matter.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar expressed dismay observing that a first information report (FIR) was launched against Ayyan Ali in June 2015, but investigation into the matter is yet to be concluded.
On March 14, 2015, Customs officials apprehended Ayyan Ali on charges of money laundering after recovering $506,000 from her luggage at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport, while she was reportedly boarding a flight to Dubai.
Later, she was granted bail in July last year after languishing around four months in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail and her judicial remand was extended at least 16 times. A customs court of the Rawalpindi indicted Ayyan in November 2015 for attempting to smuggle more than half a million dollars in cash out of the country, to which she has pleaded not guilty.