PHC issues notices to FIA over placing names on no-fly list

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the federal government and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on separate writ petitions against placing the names of provincial minister Arshad Ayub and former minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL).

A bench consisting of Justice SM Attique Shah and Justice Syed Arshad Ali heard the petition of the incumbent provincial minister, directing the federal government and the FIA to submit their responses within seven days. Sunni Ittehad Council Member Provincial Assembly and Minister for Local Government Arshad Ayub had filed the petition through Ali Azeem Advocate. FIA Director Legal Abdul Rahman Afridi appeared in court. The lawyer for the petitioners told the court that his client was a provincial minister belonging to a political family, adding that he intended to travel abroad but his name had been placed on the Provisional National Identification List. He said that his client had been stopped at the airport to prevent him from traveling abroad. He requested the court to direct the relevant officials to remove the name of his client from the no-fly list. The FIA official told the court that the Agency would submit a reply to the case but needed some time. The bench gave the federal government and the FIA to submit their reply within seven days.

Meanwhile, another bench comprising Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Shakeel Ahmad heard the petition of former provincial minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra. His lawyer Ali Gohar Durrani told the court that the name of his client had been placed on the Provisional National Identification List. He said that his client had been booked in three cases, but he had obtained bail from the relevant courts. Justice Ejaz Anwar asked Deputy Attorney General Hazrat Syed as to why his name had been placed on the no-fly list as he was on bail. The deputy attorney general also sought some time from the court. The court directed him to submit a reply till May 21 and adjourned the hearing.