ISLAMABAD - The federal government on Thursday placed dozens of PTI leaders and activists including former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on the no-fly list barring them from leaving the country.
The decision was taken on the request of different institutions of federal and provincial governments.
PTI leaders, former lawmakers and workers have been placed on the list for their alleged involvement in May 9 arson attacks on military installations, and in different corruption cases, the official sources informed The Nation.
Most of these names have been placed on FIA’s Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) — a temporary no-fly list.
The list of all the PTI members has been sent to all airports and exit points in the country, according to an official order of the Ministry of Interior that directs that none of these people will be allowed to leave Pakistan.
The other prominent PTI leaders who have been placed on the no-fly list included Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Maleeka Bokhari, Qasim Suri, Asad Qaiser, Murad Saeed, Hammad Azhar, Dr Yasmin Rashid, and Mian Aslam Iqbal.
The police, counter terrorism departments, provincial anti-corruption departments, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and different intelligence agencies had forwarded these names to the federal government for their placement on the no-fly list.The official sources said that many PTI leaders have made an effort to fly abroad after the recent police crackdown on them for their alleged involvement in May 9 violence but they had been stopped on the orders of the relevant authorities A day earlier, the Lahore police had sent names of over 700 PTI leaders to the FIA with the request to impose a restriction on their foreign travel for one month.
The police requested the FIA to place these names on the no-fly list for their alleged involvement in the May 9 violent protests that had erupted following the arrest of Chairman PTI Imran Khan.
Meanwhile, Chairman Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran has yesterday moved the Supreme Court of Pakistan Thursday seeking formation of a judicial commission comprising apex court judges to probe the May 9 violent incidents. In a petition, Imran urged to declare the calling in the armed forces in Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad unconstitutional, unlawful and without any effect.
He also urged the court to declare that the arrests, investigation and trial of civilians in peace time under the Army Act, 1952 read with the Official Secrets Act, 1923 are unconstitutional and amounts to negation of the Constitution, rule of law and independence of the judiciary.The petition, filed through Hamid Khan, questioned what is the legal and constitutional status of proposed trials of the alleged civilian offenders under the military laws and whether such trials would be in accordance with the Constitution, law and the judgments of the Supreme Court.
The PTI chief also urged the apex court to take notice of the unlawful arrests” of party leaders and others accused of vandalising state installations without the registration of cases under the applicable laws. He deplored the arrests and detentions of the PTI party members, supporters and workers under the Maintenance of Public Order provisions as unconstitutional. He added, “The dismantling of PTI through forcible quitting of party membership and office, are unconstitutional and void of being against Article 17 of the Constitution.”