LAHORE: Justice Ali Baqar Najfi of the Lahore High Court would proceed with a fresh application of Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif on May 24 (Monday) against putting his name on the Exit Control List (ECL).

The petitioner through his fresh application also sought permission to withdraw his petitions pending against placing him on a blacklist and implementation of a court’s order allowing him for medical treatment abroad.

Shahbaz through his counsel in fresh application said, reserving his right to seek contempt proceedings against the delinquents, he wants to challenge the memorandum issued on May 17 through which his name was placed on the ECL. He said due to the memorandum the pending petitions may not proceed in present form.

The pending petitions of Shahbaz are fixed for hearing on May 26 when the federal government is supposed to file its written reply as directed by the judge.

Justice Najafi on May 7 had permitted Shahbaz Sharif to visit the United Kingdom for medical treatment, ruling that the blacklist would not stop him for once. However, the immigration officials at the Lahore airport stopped Shahbaz from boarding a reserved flight on the pretext that his name was also included in Provincial National Identification List (PNIL), another category of no-fly list.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021