ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Monday said the ministry’s blacklist had been abolished and no one’s name will be put on the Exit Control List (ECL) for an indefinite period. Addressing a meeting of the Interior Ministry, the minister directed Nadra to assist in maintaining a central databank of the ECL so as to streamline the system and to facilitate the law-enforcing agencies and concerned individuals. Simultaneously, Nadra will extend its services and expertise for devising an online mechanism for the registration of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), processing of their cases and regularising their activities in the country. During the meeting, the minister observed that the ECL in the past was used as a tool by the previous governments to penalise or to oblige the people. He said the persons whose names were included in the ECL languished for decades without any respite. He said that the new system being put into place would not only simplify the procedure for making or deleting entries into the ECL but would also see to it that justice was the cornerstone of the policy for the future. Expressing serious reservations about the existence of the blacklist, the minister observed that there was no justification for having two lists, i.e. the ECL and the blacklist. He directed the Interior Ministry and the Passport Directorate officials to take immediate steps to do away with the two lists and observed that there should only be one list i.e. the ECL. He gave the ministry one month to finalise its proposals after coordinating with referring departments/ministries and asking them to justify their recommendations. He said that in future, nobody will be put on the ECL without proper justification and nobody will be allowed to remain on the ECL for an unlimited time. As for those whose names are already on the ECL, unless the referring departments do not come up with due justification, thousands of names will be removed from the ECL after a month, said the minister. Another meeting followed the meeting on the ECL. It was attended by the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) officials to review the progress made so far on mega corruption cases, the cases of Hawala/Hundi and internal accountability as well as incentives for the officers of FIA. At the outset, the minister observed that for the FIA to become a premier organisation there is a need to introduce adequate incentives so as to attract the best officers into the service.The minister directed the DG FIA to present a comprehensive proposal within the next two days as to how a system of incentives could be introduced into the organisation. The meeting also reviewed the progress on cases of mega corruption that include, among others, EOBI, Haj scam, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), New Islamabad Airport, Pakistan State Oil and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB). The meeting was informed that out of the 109 cases, 79 had been challaned while in 30 the investigation was under process. The meeting was informed that 169 accused in these mega corruption cases had been arrested while 147 were on bail. It was shared that 10 accused had been declared proclaimed offenders and 67 were absconders. The minister reiterated his commitment that all these mega corruption cases would be pursued to take them to their logical conclusion and all involved would be brought to justice.The minister also directed the FIA to appoint competent legal teams in these mega corruption cases so as to ensure that there was no lacuna in the investigation and prosecution of those cases.
