Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz has approached the Lahore High Court against including his name in the Exit Control List (ECL). The petitioner through his counsel Azam Nazir Tarar contended that the interior ministry placed his name on the ECL in an arbitrary manner without providing an opportunity of hearing before the impugned action.

He stated that on November 27 last he was going to the United Kingdom to see his ailing wife but the authorities informed him at the airport that his name has been included in the ECL on the advice of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Hamza pleaded that the right to travel and free movement is guaranteed under the constitution; however, the act of the ministry of interior was in utter violation of his fundamental rights to put his name on the ECL.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019