LAHORE   -  The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday stopped Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif from flying abroad for medical treatment through Qatar Airways.

The president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) arrived at Allama Iqbal International Airport to fly to London via Qatar, only to return home as his name was still on the blacklist. The staff stopped Shehbaz Sharif at immigration counter and informed him that he could not leave Pakistan as his name was still on the blacklist. Shehbaz showed orders of the Lahore High Court (LHC), but immigration staff did not allow him to get on board. Shehbaz was scheduled to stay in Doha for a couple of days before leaving for London.

The Ministry of Interior and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had not received an official certified copy of the Lahore Court order that directed the authorities concerned to give one-time permission to Shehbaz to go abroad, the official sources informed The Nation.

Due to the reason, the government did not update its record clearing the opposition leader’s name from its no-fly Black List, they added.

The sources said that the government would consult with its legal experts after receiving the order to see if it could be implemented quickly as PML-N leader’s name is also on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL), another no-fly list maintained by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The sources aware of the development said that the process would take some time as Eid holidays have already started and the offices would re-open on May 17 (Monday).

Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry said that FIA Director General had the authority to add or remove a person’s name from the blacklist.

“Shehbaz’s lawyers have not submitted any request to the FIA DG to remove name from the blacklist as per the court’s decision. The record cannot be changed on the basis of verbal talks. The government will move the court against this decision,” he stated in a tweet.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has condemned barring of Shehbaz Sharif by FIA from travelling abroad.

In a tweet, she stated that it is highly condemnable how the fake government has brazenly violated the LHC order by stopping the PML-N president at the airport. She said the government’s move shows how scared ‘the selected’ is of Shehbaz Sharif.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said the FIA has committed contempt of court by not allowing Shehbaz Sharif to travel abroad on Imran Khan’s order.

Terming the immigration staff’s claim about the system updating false, she said the government’s mean maneuvers do not make any difference to Shehbaz Sharif. She said the PML-N will soon approach the court. She claimed that two FIA officers were present in the court when the LHC issued an order allowing Shehbaz to travel abroad. The court order also mentioned the flight number the PML-N president would take to fly to Qatar, she said. 

“When Shehbaz Sharif came to the airport, the FIA officials stopped him and said he could not travel because there was another list,” she said, adding that it was a mala fide intention. She said that the present government had focused Shehbaz Sharif and political opponents instead of providing electricity, water, sugar and wheat to citizens. She said that Fawad Chaudhry and Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability Shehzad Akbar had been issuing statements that they did not accept the order and would make efforts to stop the PML-N president.

Talking to media outside FIA Lahore office, Marriyum dared Imran Khan, Shehzad Akbar, and all government mouthpieces to hold a press conference and read out the detailed LHC decision which according to her was a slap on the government’s corruption accusations.

“Interestingly, the NAB has categorically admitted before us that petitioner is not alleged to have received any kickbacks or ill-gotten money in return to a favour extended to someone to build up the assets in the name of his family,” she said, adding, all court-jesters of Imran Khan and commission agents who loved to wave around fake documents as proof at hours-long press conferences should be ashamed of every single word of the detailed decision. 

The court found that throughout months-long detention, NAB did not conduct any investigation from Shehbaz regarding his sources of income, she said.

The court also dismissed NAB’s allegations that Shehbaz used party funds for personal benefit. It said had it been the case, it would have become a dispute, at the most, between two individuals or a matter to be considered by the Election Commission of Pakistan for collecting party funds from certain undesirable persons by suggesting a money trail.

She said that the court actually said that such half-hearted attempt by the NAB will not absolve them from the responsibility to prove the case against Shehbaz. The court also clearly pointed out that the NAB failed to establish even at a preliminary level that Shehbaz was guilty of any of the accused offenses. She claimed that the court also trashed the accusation that because Shehbaz was living in the house owned by his wife therefore it was bought by illegally transferred money. The court clearly said the living together is not a proof of dependability, she said.

Marriyum said the court decisively ruled, “in the absence of any property purchased or owned in the personal name of Shehbaz Sharif; in the absence of direct proof that his family members were his dependents or vice versa; and in the absence of direct proof that the money came through FTTs in his account as some crime proceed or money laundering, cannot accept the prosecution case as a gospel truth.”

Marriyum urged the media to robustly share this truth with the people of Pakistan who had been misled by the vicious propaganda campaign by PTI government.

PML-N leader Ataullah Tarar told media that there were two Pakistans: one where the Prime Minister could get his special assistant Zulfiqar Bukhari’s name removed from the ECL in one and a half hour, and the other one in which the system was not updated despite a court order.

“Shehbaz Sharif’s name was not on the ECL. NAB went to the Supreme Court to get name put on the ECL but was rejected. Following this, the NAB-Niazi nexus tried to put Shehbaz’s name on the blacklist. There is a list called the ‘person-not-in-list’ which is an illegal tactic through which a person can be temporarily stopped from flying abroad,” he said. 

PML-N MPA Hina Pervaiz Butt moved a resolution in the Punjab Assembly over stopping Shehbaz Sharif from travelling abroad.

The resolution says the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Interior Ministry and the federal government have committed contempt of court as the LHC had allowed Shehbaz Sharif to travel abroad.