Former Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Aviation, Shujaat Azeem is now free to take a flight abroad as Supreme Court Thursday ordered to immediately remove his name from Exit Control List (ECL). The decision from the apex court came during the hearing of a suo motu case pertaining to privatization and poor financial health of national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
The counsel for Azeem told the bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar that during the tenure of his client as adviser to the prime minister on aviation, the losses of PIA had reduced by Rs 18 billion.
After hearing the arguments, the court ordered that Azeem's name be removed from the ECL.
Last month, the apex court ordered an inquiry against Azeem with directives to authorities concerned to place his name on the ECL after a presentation given by the PIA.
According to a presentation, PIA has suffered a total loss of Rs 360 billion since 2008. Among the reasons cited for the losses were political influence, hefty packages to blue-eyed employees and association policy.
The Chief Justice had taken notice after the national flag carrier introduced a new livery with its logo and design to include a painting of markhor in place of national flag.
The PIA management had nothing to substantiate their decision for such a huge spending of introducing markhor on the tail of its planes despite being on continuous loss, and this also forced the bench to ban recruitment of new pilots till the court announces its verdict in the case.
The apex court also ordered the Auditor General for Pakistan to conduct a special audit of the airline for the past decade.
"Improve the bathroom conditions instead of using pictures of the markhor," remarked the Chief Justice, adding that favoritism and nepotism had damaged the institution to the point of no return.
On May 13, the Supreme Court had temporarily barred the PIA from using the markhor logo on the tail of its planes instead of the national flag.
The national carrier earlier this year had decided to revamp the exterior of its aircraft to highlight its commitment to the preservation of Pakistan's national animal.