Ex-ISI chief Durrani files contempt case for not removing his name from no-fly list

Former ISI director-general Asad Durrani on Monday filed a contempt case against the interior secretary for failing to follow court orders for the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) after he authored a controversial book with ex-RAW chief Amarjit Singh Dulat.

The release of the book 'The Spy Chronicles' sparked accusations of treachery against Durrani after his candid views on the Mumbai terror attacks and various matters of regional and global concern came under intense public scrutiny.

Durrani filed a petition against Major (retd) Azam Suleman Khan in the Islamabad High Court, Samma TV reported.

On February 27, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani had given the secretary a month to make a decision on the removal of Durrani's name from the no-fly list, the petition says.

He was supposed to take a decision by March 27 but he did not, the petition said, seeking launching of contempt proceedings against the secretary for failing to follow the orders.

Durrani's name was put on the ECL on May 29, 2018 following the Pakistan Army's request to impose a travel ban on him.

The decision was taken a day after Durrani visited the Pakistan Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi to explain his stance on his controversial book.

The book was co-authored by Durrani and Dulat, the former chief of India's external spy agency RAW.

The controversial book explores sensitive topics ranging from Hafiz Saeed, co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah to the 2008 Mumbai attacks and even the Abbottabad operation by US special forces to capture Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in 2011. The book also focuses on the operations conducted by the ISI and the RAW.

Last year, Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said Durrani was found guilty of violating the military code of conduct. A court of inquiry was also ordered against him.