Court orders written replies
On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court told senior federal officials to explain how exit controls are used against people leaving the country. Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir directed the interior secretary, the immigration director and the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency—Pakistan’s border and immigration enforcement wing—to submit responses in a writ brought by the Judicial Activism Panel.
The bench also asked the Attorney General for Pakistan to help it weigh the constitutional issues raised. It ordered that full arguments be taken up in the first week of December.
What the petition attacks
Advocate Azhar Siddique is pressing the case. The filing questions exit curbs tied to the Passport Rules and to a roster called the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL). Relying on the High Court’s writ power under Article 199 of the Constitution, it singles out language in the second limb of Rule 22(2)(b) of the Passport Rules, 2021, as lacking a lawful basis.
According to the petitioners, names reach the Passport Control List when ministries or agencies merely recommend inclusion. They say travellers who already hold passports, visas and confirmed seats have been barred from boarding without advance warning or any disclosed reason.
Hardship claimed by travellers
The plea says those practices inflict money losses and severe strain on people heading abroad for jobs, studies, medical care, or religious journeys such as Umrah and Hajj. It asks the court to hold the PNIL, plus related blacklist and stop-list arrangements, unlawful wherever they continue without proper legal footing.
Counsel also seeks orders for the Ministry of Interior, Immigration and Passports, the FIA and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA)—the national identity database body—to build one clear online “Pak Travel Status Portal” so citizens can check their own clearance before they travel.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 28 October 2026: Justice Tahir issues notices to the interior secretary, immigration director and FIA director general, and calls for Attorney General assistance.
- First week of December 2026: Matter listed for hearing on the travel-restriction challenge.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Islamabad High Court ne Interior aur FIA se jawab mang liya hai. Petition ke mutabiq logon ko bina wajah aur bina notice ke travel se roka jata hai. Case December ke pehle haftay mein sunai jayegi. Agar aap bahir ja rahe hain, abhi faisla pending hai—court ne abhi liston ko cancel nahi kiya.
