Interior secretary told to remove names of Shajreel’s spouse, mother from ECL

The Sindh High Court on Friday directed the interior secretary to remove the names of Pakistan Peoples Party MPA and former Sindh information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon’s wife and mother from the Exit Control List.

Modifying the order with regard to the placement of the names of Memon’s wife and mother on the list, a division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, observed that applicants would return to Pakistan (if abroad) as and when required to appear in person by the trial court.

Applicants Sadaf Sharjeel and Zeenat Inam submitted in the applications that the high court had confirmed their pre-arrest bail in a reference filed against Memon and others in a case pertaining to assets beyond known sources of income, but had directed the ministry of interior to place their names on the exit control list.

They submitted that it had already come onto record that they had heavy investments in the United Arab Emirates and partners in a company, which formed a substantial part of their income and therefore any preclusion from participating in the said business would be contrary to Article 18 of the constitution.

They stated that due to the placement of their names on ECL they were unable to attend business meetings and could suffer financial losses. They requested the court to review the order with regard to the placement of their names on the ECL and allow them to travel abroad as neither NAB or the federation had requested the placement of their names on the list.

The National Accountability Bureau’s special prosecutor opposed the applications and submitted that no review against the order was maintainable and proper legal course of the petitioners was to approach the Supreme Court for modification in the order. He submitted that the applicants represented a flight risk and would abscond, and by reviewing the order the court would open up the floodgates for reviewing other bail orders. He requested the court to dismiss the application.

The court after hearing the arguments of the counsel observed that all the properties which the petitioners allegedly hold as benamidars are located in Pakistan and thus if they chose to abscond, the law would follow its course, and if the main accused was convicted their properties in Pakistan would be liable to be forfeited as in the recent case of Nawaz Sharif, who absconded, and that NAB would not lost out in respect of this aspect of the case.

The court observed that NAB did not issue any arrest warrants for the petitioners, and on their return to Pakistan it did not request that their names should be placed on the ECL, and it appeared that at that point in time NAB did not consider the petitioners a flight risk.

The court observed that both the petitioners owned properties in the country and neither the petitioners nor Sadaf’s children were dual nationals, which would make absconding easier.

The court observed that the charge had not been framed in the case by the trial court despite a delay of over a year due to no fault of the petitioners. It further observed that there were 12 accused and 56 prosecution witnesses, who would be subject to 12 separate cross-examinations by each counsel. It remarked that if the names of the petitioners were kept on the ECL until the conclusion of the trial, they would realistically have to remain in Pakistan for at least three years more as it was quite apparent that the trial was extremely unlikely to be completed within the next three years, which would be violative of the petitioners’ fundamental rights.

The court, modifying its previous order, directed the secretary interior to remove the names of the petitioners from the ECL. It observed that every other part of the order would remain intact.

It directed the petitioners to return to the country (if abroad) as and when required to appear in person by the trial court. NAB had filed the reference alleging that Memon had accumulated wealth and assets worth Rs2.43 billion beyond his known sources of income and purchased properties on benamie persons and relatives’ names. It had further alleged that Memon had transferred Rs1.8 billion out of the country through illegal modes of Hawala and Hundi through a money exchange company from 2012 to 2016.