ISLAMABAD: US Blogger Cynthia D Ritchie on Saturday submitted a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), challenging the interior ministry's decision to deny her a visa extension.
In the petition, Ritchie made the interior secretary, deputy secretary, and director-general Federal Investigation Agency parties to the case, stating that she had fulfilled all the legal obligations required of her - in her visa application - to ensure her continued stay in Pakistan.
Ritchie accused the interior ministry of denying her visa without any solid reason, her petition mentioning that rejecting her visa extension was a violation of the General Clauses Act and the country's visa policy.
Earlier this week, the ministry had rejected Ritchie's visa extension application and asked her to exit the country within 15 days. In its response to the IHC a day ago, the ministry stated that the American citizen's visa had been extended twice during 2018-19 which was against the law. It mentioned that the blogger had applied for her work visa extension two times, but she was given a business visa by the authority against the visa policy, adding that her company was not registered in Pakistan either.
The interior ministry on Friday had also submitted its comments to the High court in Cynthia D Ritchie's case, stating that the American blogger should be stopped from making controversial statements that go against the basic rights of citizens.
The response came after the IHC expressed displeasure over the ministry's comments at the previous hearing, instructing it to provide relevant records of its business visa policy.
She had stated that the incidents occurred in 2011 during the PPP tenure, when the individual she accused of rape had been a senior minister. Ritchie had further alleged that two other senior party leaders - a federal minister and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani (who publicly responded to the allegation) - had "physically manhandled" her when the latter "was staying the President House".
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