Shahzad Akbar says his passport renewal request declined

LONDON: The Pakistan High Commission in London has refused to renew the passport of Mirza Shahzad Akbar, the former Adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Interior and Accountability, sources have told Geo and The News.

According to sources, Shahzad Akbar, who has been living in exile in London since April 2022, visited the Pakistan High Commission on 29 October 2025 after securing an online appointment for renewal of his passport, which had expired earlier this year. However, when he appeared at the High Commission for biometric verification and submission of documents, officials reportedly declined to process his application, informing him that his passport had been blocked by the authorities in Islamabad.

It was learnt that Pakistan’s Interior Ministry and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) had formally cancelled and blocked Akbar’s passport in 2023, following a request from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case -- the same case in which former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been convicted.

According to media reports, others named in the same case, including Farhat Shahzadi (Farah Gogi), Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari (Zulfi Bukhari) and two others have also had their passports either cancelled or marked as “blocked”.

Shahzad Akbar, a barrister by profession and former head of the government’s Asset Recovery Unit (ARU), left Pakistan in April 2022, shortly after the ouster of the Imran Khan government. His name had been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) but he managed to leave the country after the Islamabad High Court ordered its removal, ruling that the ban was unlawful.

Interestingly, the situation marks an ironic twist in Pakistan’s political history. During his tenure as Adviser on Interior, Shahzad Akbar’s ministry had similarly refused to renew the passport of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar and few others -- who were then living in exile in London.

Now, three years later, the same fate appears to have befallen Akbar himself. “The message is clear, he is wanted back in Pakistan,” an official told The News, adding that passport renewal will remain conditional on his physical return and cooperation with NAB investigators.

Shahzad Akbar confirmed that his passport renewal request has been refused. A Pakistan High Commission said passports and other identity papers are issued as per the laws of Pakistani govt.