Draft / Speciman / Writ Petition under Article 199 against placement of name in Exit Control List (ECL)

BEFORE THE HONORABLE ISLAMABAD HIGH COURT ISLAMABAD

W.P              /2020

 

      Rana _____________

S/O Haji ______ Ahmad

R/O Safa Gold Mall, Sector F-7 Markaz,

Islamabad.

 

….Petitioner

 

Versus

 

  1. Federation of Pakistan,

Through the Prime Minister, Government of Pakistan,

Islamabad.

 

  1. Ministry of interior

Through its secretary,

Pak Secretariat, Constitution Ave,

Islamabad.

 

  1. Federal Investigation Agency

Through its Inspector, Crime Circle,

Rawalpindi.

 

        ….Respondents

 

WRIT PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 199 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN, 1973

 

Respectfully Sheweth,

  1. The addresses of the parties given above are sufficient for all the legal correspondence as may be deemed necessary by this Honorable Court from time to time.

 

  1. That the petitioner is a Pakistani national who lived most of his life in the middle east and has been dealing in the business of gold and gemstones. From this business not only he earned handsome amount of money but also great respect at home as well as in abroad.

 

  1. That in the year 2011, he sold his business in the Middle East and decided to bring his business capital into his homeland. In this respect, he brought a huge amount of money to Pakistan and that too through legal channels. This amount of billions of rupees was invested in Pakistan, which besides giving profits to the petitioner also created job opportunities for the general public as well.
  2. That it is pertinent to mention that, among a number of businesses established by the Petitioner, one of the most notable one is the Safa Gold Mall situated in F-7 Markaz, Islamabad. The said Mall houses a number famous National and International brands and businesses, and is one of the largest shopping complexes in Islamabad.

 

  1. That the FIA lodged an FIR No. 28/2013 u/s 384, 409, 109 PPC read with 5(2), 47 PCA, Police Station FIA/Anti-Corruption Circle, Islamabad against the Petitioner and eight other people that also included government officials.

 

  1. That in the said case lodged by the FIA, it was alleged against the Petitioner that ex-Chairman EOBI and other senior officials of EOBI decided to purchase the Crown Plaza from the Petitioner and offered the price of Rs. 1002 million which was much higher that the amount of Rs. 100.2 million was paid on 24.04.2012 and advance of Rs. 400.8 million was paid to seller/Petitioner prior to execution of agreement. After re-evaluation, the price of the Crown Plaza was calculated as 626 million and in this way, a loss of Rs. 376 million was caused to State exchequer by way of releasing fund to the seller/Petitioner more that the value of the property.

 

  1. That the said case is pending before the Special Court/FIA (Central) Islamabad and the next date of hearing is fixed for 11.09.2020 for the evidence of the prosecution.

 

  1. That the present Petitioner also owns a number of businesses abroad and for the smooth running of daily operations of all his businesses, the Petitioner has to visit the said frequently.

 

  1. That in order to do the aforesaid, the Petitioner went to collect the passport from the Immigration and the passport office.

 

  1. That it transpired to the Petitioner at the passport office that, upon the request of FIA, the name of the Petitioner has been placed on the Exit Control List by the Ministry of Interior, Pakistan and for this reason the Petitioner cannot exit the country, which is a clear violation of the fundamental rights of the Petitioner.

 

  1. That the ministry of interior has placed the name of the petitioner on the Exit Control list (ECL) under Section 2 of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981 without show cause notice to the petitioner which is the clear violation of the principles of natural justice and the fundamental rights as enumerated and guaranteed under the constitution of the Islamic republic of Pakistan, 1973.

 

  1. That the Petitioner was not intimated of the aforesaid by the Ministry nor was provided any right of hearing to present or justify his situation.

 

  1. That the FIA and Ministry of Interior have arbitrarily placed the name of the Petitioner which is unlawful, illegal, vexatious and colorful exercise of the authority.

 

  1. That the petitioner is the responsible citizen and certain other litigations are pending before the honorable district courts and higher courts and the petitioner never absconded from any of the order made by the honorable courts or other authorities ever etc.

 

  1. That placing the name of the Petitioner on the Exit Control List infringes the very fundamental rights of the Petitioner to its core and the Petitioner wants his name to be removed from the ECL.

 

  1. That the Petitioner has no other effective or efficacious remedy available to him, he therefore, requests the intervention of the Honorable Court to remove his name from the ECL, inter alia, on the following grounds:

GROUNDS:

  1. That to restrict the free movement of the petitioner in and out of Pakistan is the clear violation of the fundamental right as guaranteed in the Article 15 (freedom of movement) of the constitution of Islamic republic of Pakistan, 1973 which is described as under:

 

  1. Freedom of movement, etc.-Every citizen shall have the right to remain in, and, subject, to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the public interest, enter and move freely throughout Pakistan and to reside and settle in any part thereof.

 

  1. That the Petitioner owns a number of properties worth Billions of Rupees in Pakistan and is successfully operating a number of businesses in the country. Furthermore, the family of the Petitioner is well settled in Pakistan and the Petitioner has no reason to leave the country never to come back.

 

  1. That the Petitioner has appeared before the Learned Trial Court on every date of hearing and has never absconded from any court of law.

 

  1. That the next date of hearing before the Learned Trial Court is fixed for 11/09/2020 and at the moment there is a gap of almost two months, in which the Petitioner should be allowed to travel abroad to conduct his businesses.
  2. That the case against the Petitioner was initiated in the year 2013 and is still pending adjudication even after a lapse of 7 years, which depicts the maliciousness, mala fide and incapacity of the prosecution to conduct a fair trial.

 

  1. That the case was fixed for evidence of the Prosecution on 16.05.2016 and the same is still pending even as of today.

 

  1. That such delay in the recording of the evidence by the prosecution would prejudice against the Petitioner and infringe his right of free movement for an indefinite time period.

 

  1. That in the case cited at “MRS IFRAH MURTAZA VS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN” (PLD 2019 LAHORE 565) It was held that where an order of putting name of a person on Exit Control List is passed without providing opportunity of hearing to him and without application of its own independent mind by Government and such order is a non-speaking order and the High Court directed to remove the name of said person from Exit Control List.

 

  1. That in another case cited at “MIAN MUHAMMAD SHAHBAZ SHARIF Versus FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN and 4 others” (2019 P Cr.L.J 1123 Lahore, W.P. No. 12312 of 2019), it was held that the mere pendency of an inquiry with investigating authority did not provide sufficient material or justification for keeping name of petitioner in Exit Control List and no plausible reasons were assigned by authorities while placing name of petitioner on Exit Control List and the High Court set aside the order in question as same was passed in haste and in mechanical manner on instructions of National Accountability Bureau.

 

  1. That in the case of SYED ZULFIKAR ABBAS BUKHARI VS FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN”(2019 PLD 316 ISLAMABAD) it was held that the mere pendency of an inquiry with investigating authority would not justify denial of a guaranteed fundamental Right of a citizen to travel abroad. When name of an individual was placed on the Exit Control List (ECL), his freedom of movement was curbed and the same amounted to violation of Fundamental Right as guaranteed under A15 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973.

 

  1. That Article 4 ensures that all individuals should enjoy equal protection of law and should be treated in accordance with law, which is their inalienable right and the right to procedural due process and fairness as held in the case cited at “MUHAMMAD ABDAAL ALIAS ABDALI VS GOVERNMENT OF THE PUNJAB (2020 PLD 471 LAHORE),(2020 PTD 165 LAHORE). It further guarantees an inalienable right to enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with law. “Law” in Article 4 includes the cardinal principle of natural justice. Constitution of Pakistan has boldly recognized this right to be an inalienable right of every citizen or of any person for the time being in Pakistan [2011 PLC (C.S) 419] [2010 PLC (C.S) 961].

 

  1. That in terms of the law laid down, the name of the Petitioner has been placed on the ECL without application of mind, in a mechanical manner and without considering the element of public interest by the Respondent. The Petitioner has been denied their fundamental right without due process of law.

 

PRAYER

It is respectfully prayed in the circumstances presented above in the interest of justice following order may be made that:

 

  1. The Impugned order against the petitioner may be declared null and void, and of no legal significance and the name of the petitioner may kindly be removed from the Exit control list.

 

Any other relief the Honourable Court may deem fit and proper may also be granted to the Petitioner.

 

Through

 

 

Asadullah  Hashmi                          

Advocate  High Court

LLM-ITL(Medalist)

Certificate

As per instructions received from the client, this is first W.P on the subject, filed on behalf of the Petitioner before this Honorable Court. No other litigation on the subject matter is either has been decided by or pending before this honorable court or any other competent court of law.

 

COUNCEL

 

 

 

 

BEFORE THE HONORABLE ISLAMABAD HIGH COURT ISLAMABAD

 

W.P              /2020

 

      ABC____

S/O Haji ______ Ahmad

R/O Safa Gold Mall, Sector F-7 Markaz,

Islamabad.

 

….Petitioner

 

Versus

 

  1. Federation of Pakistan,

Through the Prime Minister, Government of Pakistan,

Islamabad.

        ….Respondents

 

WRIT PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 199 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN, 1973

AFFIDAVIT

I ________________    Muslim Adult, as deponent solemnly affirm and declare that I filed this suit before the honorable Islamabad High Court , the contents thereof are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief and nothing material has been concealed or withheld from this Honorable Court.

DEPONENT

VERIFICATION

Verified on oath on this day of  _________ of July  2020 that the contents of the said affidavit are true and correct to my knowledge and belief.

 

 

DEPONENT

 

 

 

 

 

BEFORE THE HONORABLE ISLAMABAD HIGH COURT ISLAMABAD

 

W.P              /2020

 

Al-Safa Gold pvt Ltd

….Petitioner

 

Versus

 

Learned District Judge (west) Islamabad

        ….Respondents

 

WRIT PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 199 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN, 1973

 

 

INDEX

 

Sr. No. Detail Date Annexure Page
1. W.P Along with Affidavit     1 to 6
2 Copy of Impugned Order 12-10-2020   7 to 11,Z
3 Copy of the Agreement,   B 12 to 56
4 Copy of the Order 31-01-2020 C 57 to 65
5 Copy of the Order 01-10-2020 D1,D2,D3 66 to 74
6 Application For Suspension of Impugned order      75 to 76
7 Application for Exemption     77 to 78
8 Power Of   Attorney     -79-

 

 

Through

 

 

Asadullah Hashmi

Advocate High Court

Email-asad.legalworld@gmail.com

Cell 0332-7516974

 

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