Removal from ECL: Govt rejects pleas of Nawaz, Maryam, Safdar

ISLAMABAD: Amid the rumours regarding the reported deal between establishment and Sharif brothers, Interior Ministry has silently rejected an application of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif seeking removal of his name from Exit Control List (ECL), The News learnt here on Wednesday.

In October last year, Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and his son-in-law Captain (R) Safdar submitted three separate applications to Interior Ministry seeking removal of their names from ECL.

According to the sources, the application was filed when Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (R) Safdar were released on bail. All the three in their applications, separately stated that the grounds to prohibit a person proceeding from Pakistan to a destination outside the country as provided in the rule 2 of the Exit from Pakistan Rules 2010 are not applicable to the applicants. They stated that they are not involved in any economic crime, act of terrorism or its conspiracy as envisaged by the said rules.

The sources said that after receiving the said applications Interior Ministry moved these requests to Federal Cabinet which decided that the final decision about the removal of these names should be taken after the consultation with National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as their names were included on the recommendation of the anti-corruption agency.

The sources claim that following the instructions of the Federal Cabinet, Interior Ministry moved a summary seeking comments of the NAB for removal of names from ECL which later in its comments strongly opposed the idea of removing names of Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (R) Safdar from ECL.

The sources claim that NAB had taken position that all the three accused are wanted in the trail so their names should not be removed. After the comments of NAB, Interior Ministry formally rejected the application. The sources claim that all the three have been informed about the decision to reject their application. The sources in NAB claim that now all the above mentioned names have no other option but to approach the court for the sake of removing their names on ECL. On the other hand, after the bail of Nawaz Sharif, federal government still has the powers to remove his name and names of Maryam and Safdar from ECL, a source in the federal government revealed to this correspondent.