Petitioner urges LHC to put Prime Minister's name on ECL

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday accepted for regular hearing a petition calling for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's name to be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL). The court will hold its first hearing of the application today, a private TV channel reported The petition was filed yesterday by Javed Jaffery - the counsel for Imran Ali - who had earlier petitioned in the LHC in 1991 seeking disqualification of the then premier Nawaz Sharif on grounds that the latter does not comply with Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.
The petition contended that the premier's name should be added to the ECL so that he does not leave the country as the court is yet to hear the 1991 disqualification plea against him. Earlier on May 6, LHC Chief Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik constituted a five-member larger bench comprising Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan, Justice Faisal Zaman Khan and Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf to hear the 1991 petition that sought the then premier Nawaz Sharif's disqualification.