IHC allows Khosa to travel abroad

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted senior lawyer and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA Latif Khan Khosa permission to travel abroad, ordering the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani presided over the hearing of Khosa’s petition challenging his placement on the ECL. The petitioner stated that his name was added to the ECL due to a case filed against him at the Secretariat Police Station in connection with a protest held outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The court questioned the justification behind restricting his travel given the minor nature of charges under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The prosecutors acknowledged that no charge sheet had been submitted in the case filed against Khosa for the alleged protest activity. The court criticised the inclusion of names on the ECL without solid grounds, asking if thousands facing similar charges had also been barred from travel. Khosa informed the court that his earlier flight on January 5 was missed due to the restriction. He now plans to travel to Canada. The court directed him to submit an affidavit in the trial court, ensuring his appearance whenever summoned. The session concluded with conditional approval of his travel request.