The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday directed the federal government to submit comments on a petition seeking explanation of procedures with regard to inclusion and removal of names in the Exit Control List (ECL).
A high court bench directed the government to come up with its reply by Feb 20.
The federal government, prime minister, interior minister, National Accountability Bureau chairman and other departments concerned have been named respondents in the petition.
“According to the law, the interior secretary has the right to place names on the ECL”, the petitioner stated in his plea.
He further contended that names were not included or excluded from the ECL even on court orders which further complicated the ECL mechanism.
He pleaded to the court to clarify the procedure of induction and removal of the names from the ECL.
Earlier, on Jan 17, the federal cabinet ordered removal of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s names from the ECL in the light of a Supreme Court verdict.
Former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar had directed to strike off the names of Bilawal, CM Shah and Farooq H Naek from the ECL and the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report pertaining to the fake bank accounts case.