Federal cabinet to review 172 people on ECL

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is expected to chair a federal cabinet in capital to review a 17-point agenda, on Thursday.

Earlier, the agenda did not include the matter of placement of names of 172 ‘influential’ people on the Exit Control List (ECL).

However, it may fall into discussion today as the previous cabinet meeting on January 10th postponed the decision to review removal of names of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah from the no-fly list.

The cabinet had ended the meeting with remarks that the final decision would be taken after a detailed judgment from the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).

The detailed judgment has been released by the SCP.

Besides, the meeting is expected to ‘formulate’ appointment of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) chairman, and approve supplementary grants for financial assistance of families of deceased civil servants.

The agenda also includes approval of expenses for legal experts who are expected to prosecute cases in Britain.

The cabinet meeting’s agenda also encompasses the cement industry’s supply and demand and costs and certain matters pertaining to the ministry of National Food Security & Research.

A grant for the power division is expected to be approved as a pension for families of deceased civil servants.

Earlier, the federal government placed names of 172 people including Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto and Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on the ECL after the Joint Investigation Committee’s (JIT) recommendation to probe into fake accounts and money laundering case.

However, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar disapproved the recommendation and said that the head of the JIT had overstepped his mandate.