"To the contrary, the former interior minister was not in favour of allowing the former PIA's CEO to leave the country without being held accountable for his alleged corruption," said a spokesperson for the former interior minister who also termed the allegations as "pack of lies."
He stated, "It was on the intervention of Prime Minister's [Nawaz Sharif] Office that permission was granted to Hildenbrand apparently, German ambassador had contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had given an assurance that Hildenbrand would return to the country after one month."
The spokesperson further stated, "It was in the context of recommendations from the Foreign Office that secretary to prime minister personally met Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and conveyed prime minister's directions to allow Hildenbrand for proceeding abroad for one month."
Earlier on Tuesday, a Senate sub-committee on the PIA affairs was informed by the officials of the airlines that it was on the request of Nisar Ali Khan that Hildenbrand's name was removed from the exit control list (ECL).
The four-member committee is investigating the controversial sale of the PIA's Airbus A-310 to a German firm in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules.