ISLAMABAD – The Senate on Monday adopted the report of Standing Committeeon Law andJustice regarding procedure for putting names in the black list and itslegal valueand expressed concern that the list existed without any legal sanction.
Chairman of the Standing Committee Senator Javed Abbasi moved themotion for consideration of the report.Initiating debate on the report, Senator Abbasi said the list had no legalvalue and some people were stopped at airports despite having validpassports.The list was being misused and it was in practice since 1957, he saidaddingthe committee called officials of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) toascertainfacts.
The misuse of the list was reportedly done at Karachi and Peshawarairports,he said and added Exit Control List (ECL) could be used to stop personsfromtraveling abroad.Senator Sherry Rehman told the House that specific such lists were beingused to stop people from traveling and deny citizens their fundamentalrights.Senator Sikander Mandhro said the lists were against legal and fundamentalrights of people. He said House should be informed about the departmentsthatput hurdle in way of people, going abroad.Speaking on the matter, Senator Raza Rabbani said the government had twomonths to implement the recommendations of the Upper House.He said Ministry of Interior, Immigration and Passport Departments and FIAfailed to tell the committee about the source of black list. The list wasultra vires of the Constitution and it was violation of the Article 15 ofthe Constitution.It was stated in the Constitution that any law contradicting fundamentalrightswas ultra vires, he noted.He said the issue should not be taken lightly and it was not right to saythatthe list existed since 1957. The passport manual had no legal sanction asit wasnot made according to the Passport Act, he added.The Senator said passport manual was amended in 1962 but there was noclause that sanctioned a black list.The committee was surprised to know that Interior Ministry, FIA andPassportand Immigration Offices were not taking responsibility for creation of theblack list.He said the committee asked the officials how a person who was accused of violation of Article 6 and subversion of Constitution got away from thecountry but they did not have any answer.Senator Raza Rabbani said even labourers who were bound to reach theirduties in foreign countries were stopped with this black list and money wasallegedly extorted from them.Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood commentedwhy an impression was given without any proof that the black list wasgetting maintained for the last three months only.He said Director General FIA should be called again to determine why such alist was needed.Senator Mir Kabir said a committee should be formed to further look intothe matter.Senator Sarfraz Bugti opined that it should be kept in mind that Pakistanwas fightinga long drawn war against terrorism and the enemy was barbarous. The listswere providedby intelligence agencies and it should be realized that securityinstitutions were rendering sacrifices every single day, he added.Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said Parliament hadthe rightto protect rights of citizens, adding Ministry of Interior could properlyrespond on the matterand the minister would be in the House in the next sitting to shed light onthe situation.He asked in the past Aimal Kansi, Afia Siddiqui and Ramzi Yousaf werehanded overto other countries under which law.There ought to be a way to further strengthen hands of security forces, hecontinued.Chairman Standing Committee on Communications Senator Hidayatullahpresentedreport of his committee on the matter raised by Senator Nauman WazirKhattak regardingSukkur Multan (M-5) Motorway.The House deferred debate on the calling attention notice of Senator SherryRehman on missing of revenue collection target of Rs 175 billion by FederalBoard of Revenue whichwas causing a slowdown in the economy.
