SHC seeks federal govt’s comments on Khuhro’s plea against name on ECL

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed a federal law officer to file comments on a petition filed by Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Pakistan Peoples Party leader and adviser to the Sindh chief minister on works and services department, against the placement of his name on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Khuhro, who in his long political career has served as the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, Sindh Assembly speaker and provincial food minster, had approached the SHC against the placement of his name on the ECL due to the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) pending corruption inquiries and investigations.

A counsel for the petitioner submitted that although no NAB reference had been filed against the petitioner, his name was placed on the ECL, which was against the fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution.

He sought the removal of Khuhro’s name from the ECL. A federal law officer sought time to file comments on the petition, to which the SHC directed the law officer to file comments on the petition by August 26.

The high court had earlier granted one-time permission to the petitioner to travel abroad from April 7 to May 17. Khuhro has also obtained protective pre-arrest bail in connection with two NAB inquiries against provincial food department officials and him for release of wheat to mill owners through unsecured guarantees, and money laundering charges. The NAB call-up notices had sought replies from Khuhro with regard to the release of wheat on credit against unsecured guarantees of post-dated cheques to the mill owners, causing huge losses to the national exchequer.

In another call-up notice, NAB had sought details of Khuhro’s sources of income and expenditures from 2017 to 2019 as Rs47.9 million were recorded in Khuhro’s bank account wherein $70,000 were transferred to different individuals in the US during April 2017 till April 2018.