ISLAMABAD, July 07 (TNS): Islamabad High Court on Friday ordered removal of the name of Zulfi Bukhari, a British national and close friend of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, from the blacklist of the interior ministry, enabling him to travel abroad without any constraint.
The IHC judge Justice Aamer Farooq accepted the petition filed by Bukhari, following the June 11 incident when Immigration officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had stopped him from boarding the plane to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah along with Imran Khan, his wife, Aleem Khan and others, after detecting through the integrated border management system (IBMS) that his name was included in the interior ministry’s blacklist. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had requested the ministry to place his name on the no-fly list.
Justice Farooq had on July 3 reserved the judgment on the petition after hearing arguments of Mr Bukhari’s counsel, Deputy Attorney General Khaliq Thind and Additional Deputy Prosecutor General of NAB Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi.
Arguing before the court, Mr Abbasi said the petition was not maintainable since Mr Bukhari was seeking relief against the directive of NAB. He said that NAB had asked the interior ministry to put Mr Bukhari’s name on the ECL (Exit Control List), but the ministry had put him on the blacklist instead.
The deputy attorney general argued that the interior ministry had evolved a mechanism for including names in the blacklist and that Mr Bukhari was allowed to travel on June 11 under the discretionary power.
At this, Justice Farooq asked how a discretionary power was exercised over a phone call. Did the interior ministry lay down the rules just to break them, he wondered.
