LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday ordered the conditional removal of the name of former commissioner of Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission Afzal Bhatti from the Exit Control List (ECL) if he pays back 50 per cent of the money he had taken from the government as salary during his ‘illegal appointment’ at the body.
A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar heard the case at the Lahore registry.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore Director General Shahzad Saleem informed the bench that Bhatti owed Rs13.5 million to the national exchequer of which he was willing to return Rs5m.
However, the CJP said that Bhatti will be freed from the case and his name taken off the no-fly list if he pays back Rs6.5m within 10 days.
The SC had earlier ordered NAB to file a reference against Bhatti over his appointment as Punjab Overseas Pakistanis’ Commissioner.
The bench headed by the CJP had passed the orders during a hearing on appointment of Bhatti, who was also a board member of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).
During the hearing, NAB’s Shahzad told the bench that Bhatti had admitted during investigation that he was not a Pakistani national.