Court moved against interior minister

LAHORE: PPP candidate for NA-133 Faisal Mir on Wednesday filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging appointment of Interim Interior Minister Azam Khan for removing the name of Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari alias Zulfi Bukhari’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and allowing him to perform Umrah along with PTI Chief Imran Khan.

Faisal Mir said Interior Minister Azam Khan misused his authority by removing the name of Zulfiqar Bukhari from ECL as no permission was sought from the federal cabinet. He said he had close relation and friendship with Imran Khan. He played his role in giving permission to Zulfi Bukhari to perform Umrah with Imran Khan despite his name was on the ECL.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had suggested placing his name on the ECL. He said appointment of Azam Khan is against the mandate of Section 230 of Election Act 2017 which stipulates in a categorical terms that a caretaker government must be impartial to every person and political party.

However, he said appointment of Khan as interior minister rendered the aforementioned provisions of law redundant as per the dictas of superior court of Pakistan redundancy cannot be attributed to legislature.

He said being Interior Minister Azam could influence the upcoming general election. He asked the court to declare his appointment as interior minister illegal for being close friend and member of Imran Khan foundation.