ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that travel restrictions on citizens can only be imposed by a competent legal authority and strictly according to the procedure prescribed by law, declaring that names cannot be placed on the Passport Control List (PCL) without due process.
In a landmark ruling on citizens’ right to travel, the court ordered the immediate removal of petitioner Zain Atiq’s name from the PCL, holding that his continued inclusion in the list was illegal.
According to the ruling, Atiq’s name was put on the PCL after he was deported from Turkiye in July 2022. Subsequently, the FIA recommended removing his name from the list at the request of the petitioner, noting that more than two years had passed since his deportation.
However, the passport authority rejected his application on the grounds that no charges had been brought. The court noted that a person deported for illegal entry or any other prohibited act cannot be held at the PCL indefinitely without the approval of a competent authority.
The judgment noted that the record did not show that any competent authority had ever decided to retain the petitioner’s name on the PCL. It noted that the record showed no evidence of any conviction or pending criminal case against him in Pakistan or in Turkey.
Referring to the Shireen Mazari case, the IHC reiterated that travel restrictions on citizens can only be imposed by a lawful authority through the procedure laid down in law. It found that the relevant authorities had not met the legal requirements in the present case.
While observing that the passport authority has the final authority in such matters, the court ruled that the FIA’s recommendation could not be ignored without sound legal grounds.
The judgment further observed that no criminal case was pending against the petitioner, there was no record of any conviction by a competent court and no other legal basis existed to justify continuing his admission in the PCL.
In the absence of any lawful decision by a competent authority, the court held, the petitioner’s name could not remain on the PCL. Therefore, the IHC directed the authorities to immediately remove Zain Atiq’s name from the PCL.
