Ex-President’s name from Exit Control List removed
ISLAMABAD, March 17: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has on Thursday said that the removal of former President Pervez Musharraf’s name from Exit Control List (ECL) is Supreme Court’s decision. He said that those criticising the government over court’s decision gave Musharraf the Guard of Honour when they were in power, sources reported.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Chaudhry Nisar said that those who gave Musharraf the Guard of Honour are now playing politics over court orders. “It was our government that took Musharraf case to Supreme Court. We could have struck a deal in the first place if wanted to”, he said.
Nisar added that the ECL policy was changed by the current government. “It is a very strict law. Through this list, a person’s movement is restricted. It therefore needed amendments. There are cases on record in which someone’s name was put on ECL just because of some domestic issue. We made changes in this policy and now it is completely transparent”.
The interior minister said that Musharraf was facing a trial in 2007 Emergency case and he hadn’t invoked the emergency against Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N)
government, but against the judiciary itself. “If now the court says that his name may be removed from ECL, it’s the court’s decision”, said Nisar.
“There were reports that Musharraf had his tickets booked. The reports were true. He wanted to leave the country. But the government intervened because we wanted to be sure about the legal situation”, he said. Nisar added that Interior Ministry received an official request from Musharraf’s lawyers earlier today and the government decided to allow him to fly freely.
Chaudhry Nisar told that the government has decided to officially allow Pervez Musharraf to travel in the light of the decision by Supreme Court. He added that Musharraf’s lawyers had guaranteed before the court that they would pursue the case and that Musharraf will be back in country after 4 to 6 weeks and was leaving only for the sake of medical treatment.
Meanwhile, a notification has been issued for removing Pervez Musharraf’s name from the ECL.-Agencies
