IHC reserves verdict on Zulfi Bukhari’s plea seeking removal from no-fly list

— Court comments on NAB’s ‘disinterest’ in keeping Zulfi’s name on ECL 

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by Zulfi Bukhari, special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis, seeking the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

As a division bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani took up the petition for hearing, the court questioned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for an update in the illegal assets case against Bukhari.

On Monday, the bench had directed NAB to take required documents from Bukhari to complete an impending probe. However, the accountability watchdog informed the court that it wasn’t able to extract any information out of him.

During the hearing, the federal high court questioned NAB why it had allowed Bukhari to go abroad, opposing its own stance in principle.

A representative of the Interior Ministry informed the court that NAB had sent a summary of its recommendation to the federal cabinet, suggesting that Bukhari is allowed to travel out of the country once.

In response, Justice Kayani commented that it appears as if NAB isn’t interesting in keeping his name on the no-fly list. To which, NAB special prosecutor Imran Shafiq clarified that the recommendation was a one-time thing.

The court then reserved its verdict.