The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended Tuesday a notification of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to place the names of Shehzad Akbar and Shahbaz Gill on no-fly list, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petitions filed by Shehzad Akbar and Shahbaz Gill. He also issued notices to the interior secretary and the FIA director general, seeking replies from both of them tomorrow.

Mirza Shehzad Akbar adopted before the court that the names of five persons including his were placed on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) in strange circumstances.

Lawyer for Shahbaz Gill informed the court that the name of his client was on four lists including watch list, black list and stop list.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah stated that the court had declared the black list illegal.

Mirza Shehzad Akbar said that the FIA director general should be asked who had filed the requisition for placing their names on the no-fly list.

At this, the court directed the interior secretary and the FIA director general to appoint competent officers to explain at whose request the names were placed on the no-fly list.

The hearing of the petitions was then adjourned till 10:30am on Wednesday (tomorrow).

Earlier, Shahbaz Gill and Shahzad Akbar, who had served as special assistant to prime minister (SAPM) and advisor to prime minister on accountability and interior respectively under the last PTI government, in their separate petitions filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday prayed to the court to order removal of their names from the ‘stop list'.     

Both Gill and Akbar, in their petitions, argued that the ban imposed on their foreign travelling was in violation of the law since they were not wanted by the authorities in connection with any crime or offence.  

Even, they went on to add, there was not a single allegation against them. 

Akbar even prayed to the high court to investigate as to how his name was put on the list when there was no government in the country on the night between April 9 and April 10, 2022.  

Therefore, they pleaded, that the ban on their travelling be immediately lifted.

Yesterday, (Monday, April 11, 2022), 24News had reported that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had put the names of former special assistant to the prime minister on accountability and interior Shahzad Akbar and ex-SAPM on political communication Dr Shehbaz Gill on No-Fly List.

The former accountability czar Shehzad Akbar vigorously pursued cases of corruption against the Sharif family but failed to prove anything in the accountability court.

Later talking to the media at the IHC premises, Akbar said that the ‘imported’ government had started political victimization of its opponents. “The question is who had ordered the FIA to put my name on the list when voting on the opposition’s no-trust motion was not even complete?” he asked, and made it clear that he and other members of the former cabinet stood by PTI Chairman Imran Khan.                                                          

Reporter: Ihtesham Kiani