Court allows PML-N’s Hamza Shahbaz to travel abroad for 10 days

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Lahore High Court has allowed Hamza Shahbaz, leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly, to travel abroad after ordering the interior ministry to remove his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) for 10 days, on Wednesday.

According to details, PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz had filed a writ petition in the LHC and stating that the interior ministry placed his name on the exit control list (ECL) in an arbitrary manner as no opportunity of hearing had been afforded to him before the action.

Hamza Shahbaz said that he on Nov 27, 2018, intended to travel abroad to see his ailing wife, undergoing medical treatment in the United Kingdom. However, he said, he was informed by the authorities that his name had been included in the list on the advice of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

PML-N leader pleaded that the right to travel and free movement was guaranteed under the Constitution, however, the impugned memorandum issued by the interior ministry was in utter violation of his fundamental rights.

He contended that a bare perusal of the ministry’s memorandum showed that it had been issued in an unfair exercise of executive powers and failed to give any valid reason.

He further pleaded that the act of placing his name on the ECL was in violation of Articles 2-A, 4, 9, 15, and 25 of the Constitution.

Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan, after hearing the plea, gave him one-time permission to travel abroad.

Hamza, along with his father Shehbaz Sharif and brother Salman Shehbaz, is facing multiple NAB inquiries, including those into Ramzan Sugar Mills road construction and assets beyond means.