ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday ordered the Ministry of Interior to remove the name of Azam Khan, a career bureaucrat and former principal secretary to then-prime minister Imran Khan, from a so-called stop list, permitting him to travel abroad.
Any person placed on the “stop list” is not allowed to leave the country.
The court meanwhile also directed Khan to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly whenever summoned.
Earlier, during the proceedings, Chief Justice Athar Minallah asked a committee representative why it had summoned Khan.
The counsel for Khan said his client had been summoned to explain his position in a harassment case against the former chairperson of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), retired Justice Javed Iqbal.
The judge remarked that whenever a parliamentary body summons someone, they should respect the law and comply with the order. “And Azam Khan made a mistake if he decided against appearance,” he opined.
An assistant attorney general (AAG), on the occasion, said it was on PAC’s direction that Khan’s name was put on the list. At this, Justice Minallah wondered how the committee could pass on such instructions.
“If this court of law cannot do anything illegal, nobody else can,” he stated.
He said his court had earlier, in its observations, said there was no legal cover for the stop list regime. “After all Khan is a government servant. He is not going to go anywhere,” he added.
The AAG told the court that the former principal secretary did not appear before the body despite the fact that he was summoned repeatedly.
