A subcommittee of Pakistan's interim cabinet on Wednesday recommended putting the names of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and 28 others on the Exit Control List (ECL) to prevent them from leaving the country over their involvement in a corruption case.
The Al-Qadir Trust case pertains to Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, who allegedly obtained billions and a large amount of land from Bahria Town Ltf for legalising Rs 50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the United Kingdom during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, Dawn reported.
The PTI chairman was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court in the case earlier this year but was released after the Supreme Court declared the arrest unlawful. However, he was again 'arrested' during imprisonment by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir case.
Former interior minister Rana Sanaullah had accused the ex-PM and Bibi of accepting Rs 5 billion and hundreds of kanals of land for protecting the real estate firm in a money laundering case.
What did the committee decide?
“The committee recommended putting the names of 41 people sent by various departments and institutions on the ECL. On the recommendation of NAB, names of 29 people, including Imran Khan, were recommended to be put on the ECL in the £190 million scandal,” said Pakistan's Interior Ministry on X.
The ministry further said that the recommendations were sent to the federal Cabinet for approval. The subcommittee meeting was attended by interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti and officials of other departments.
Earlier this year, the then-Pakistan government led by Shehbaz Sharif placed Imran, his wife and other party leaders and activists on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL), a substitute of ECL, after the violent May 9 riots.
The cipher case
Separately, Imran Khan got a major relief after the IHC nullified the official notification conducting the PTI chief's jail trial on charges of leaking state secrets, meaning that the entire legal process will start from scratch. The trial is being held in the Adiala Jail, where the ex-PM has been imprisoned since September 26.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Pakistan accepted hearing Imran's bail plea and sought the responses of the federation and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the matter.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document, which allegedly contained a threat by the US to oust the PTI government. The FIA’s charge sheet alleged that the document brandished by Imran was never returned.
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