IHC summons interior secretary, FIA and passport chiefs over list non-compliance

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday summoned the interior secretary, the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency and the director general of Immigration and Passports to appear before it in person, after the authorities failed to remove citizens' names from the Passport Control List (PCL) in line with court orders.

A single-member bench of Justice Azam Khan heard contempt of court petitions filed over that failure, ARY News reported.

The court had directed the director general of Immigration and Passports, Muhammad Ali Randhawa, in September to implement its orders on removing the names from the PCL by the next date of hearing.

At Monday's proceedings the bench summoned Interior Secretary Ahmed Raza Sarwar, FIA Director General Usman Anwar and Mr Randhawa to appear in person.

A deputy director of Immigration and Passports told the court that the matter was pending before a review committee. Justice Azam Khan questioned the explanation, asking how the court should respond to a failure to implement its order merely because the matter was before a committee.

Officials of the department told the bench that the committee was part of the procedure for reviewing such cases.

The judge also questioned what mechanism was in place once a court had issued an order, and warned the assistant attorney general that the authorities would face consequences if another contempt petition were filed over non-compliance. The court directed that the director general be called to appear, observing that the matter could not be handled in this manner.

The case concerns petitioner Wajahat Hussain, whose name the court had ordered removed from the Passport Control List.

The Passport Control List is maintained by the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports. The report did not say how many names are affected in the petitions before the court, what the petitioners are accused of, or when the bench will next sit.