Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the decision of not putting the name of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who along with his family is facing multiple corruption references in accountability courts, on the no-fly list was taken ‘somewhere else’.
Speaking on the floor of National Assembly in Islamabad, he said ignoring the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) recommendations regarding putting the former PM’s name on Exit Control List (ECL) indicated that the decision was not taken by the concerned authorities but it was taken elsewhere, media reported.
Nisar was speaking during the question hour after the parliamentary secretary for interior had said that the ministry takes decisions on merit in response to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Syed Naveed Qamar’s query regarding the ministry’s failure to put Sharif’s name on the ECL.
The parliamentary secretary had further said that the question regarding the former premier was ‘personal’ in nature and hence a separate question be raised by the house in this regard.
Chaudhry Nisar said it was true that during the rule of military dictator Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, names were being put on the ECL through an ordinance. However, now there is a clear policy in place in this regard, he added.
The former minister said that new rules and regulations on the issue were introduced by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government after assuming power in 2013.
“Before that, names were being placed on ECL even for domestic disputes between husbands and wives,” said Nisar, adding that his party’s government centralised the whole process, relieving the interior minister and interior secretary of their role in it.
“We decided that the ministry itself will not put anyone’s name on ECL and if recommendations are made by institutions then the matter would be forwarded to the concerned committee,” said the former minister.
“[The committee] must have reviewed the matter of putting Nawaz Sharif’s name on the ECL… its recommendation on the issue should be presented to parliament… if the committee hasn’t taken any decision in this regard then it must’ve been taken somewhere else.”
