PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif will file a petition in the Islamabad High Court against the government’s decision to put his name on the no-fly list next week.
Earlier on Saturday, Shehbaz filed an application to withdraw a petition before the Lahore High Court. He had moved the Lahore High Court against the inclusion of his name in the Exit Control List (ECL) by the government before Eid when he was going abroad.
In his petition before the Islamabad High Court, Shehbaz has prayed that his name was added to ECL through a memorandum issued by the government on May 17. He submitted that after the issuance of the memorandum his petition pending before the Lahore High Court needed to be amended as it cannot be proceeded in its current form.
The petition will be heard by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi on May 26 and the government is expected to file its written reply.
The PMLN president has decided that the contempt application would not be withdrawn against the authorities who stopped him from flying abroad last month even after permission was granted by the LHC.
Shehbaz was stopped at the Lahore airport from boarding a Doha-bound flight en route London.
Shehbaz counsel Azam Nazir Tarar said the decision to withdraw the petition in Lahore High Court had been made due to technical reasons.
He said the government had completed the process of placing Shehbaz’s name on the ECL during the Eid holidays and called the move mala fide.
Meanwhile, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Barrister Shahzad Akbar said Shehbaz Sharif’s decision to withdraw the petition showed that he had attempted to flee the country on a false pretext.
In a tweet, he said the withdrawal of the petition also proved that the legal arguments presented earlier in the LHC about the blacklist were flawed. He said his offer of providing legal assistance (to Shehbaz) still stands.
