The Ministry of Defence has urged the Islamabad High Court not to remove the name of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief retired Lt Gen Asad Durrani from the Exit Control List (ECL).
The ministry has made the request in a written response to a petition filed with the court by the former ISI chief, seeking the removal of his name from the no-fly list so he can travel abroad.
According to a copy of the response seen by Geo News, the ministry has told the court that it has evidence which suggests Durrani remained in contact with Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The defence ministry also said that it has evidence which suggests Durrani has been in contact with anti-state elements from other countries since 2008.
Durrani's name was included in the ECL in 2019 following the Ministry of Defence's recommendation, sources said. They told Geo News that court proceedings for the petition filed by the former ISI chief will commence from the second week of February.
An inquiry was launched against Durrani for publishing "The Spy Chronicles", which he has co-authored with former chief of India’s spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) AS Dulat.
Durrani was summoned to the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters (GHQ) in May 2018, where he was asked to explain his position on views attributed to him in the book.
The ISPR said in 2019 that Durrani has been found guilty of violating the military code of conduct after he co-authored the book.
“He has been found guilty of violating the military code of conduct. His pension and other benefits have been stopped,” the then Director-General ISPR had tweeted.
The former ISI chief has said he will not comment since the matter is already in court, adding that it should be resolved through the judicial process.
Sources told Geo News that Durrani will personally appear before the court in the second week of February to attend a hearing of the case.
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