Musharraf files plea in HC seeking lifting of travel ban

Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf today filed a petition in the Sindh High Court seeking lifting of a travel ban on him so that he can go abroad to meet his ailing mother.
The petition was filed by Musharraf's lawyer Farogh Nasim in the Sindh High Court here which issued notices to the federal government and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to respond to his plea.
Nasim filed the application seeking the removal of his name from the Interior Ministry's Exit Control List (ECL) and requested for an early hearing which was granted.
In the application, 70-year-old Musharraf pleaded that not a single court has imposed restriction on his movement and hence he should be allowed to fly abroad.

Nasim, during the hearing, argued that the former president wanted to meet his ailing mother in Dubai and should be permitted to travel freely.
The two-member divisional bench consisting of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Khalid Hussain Bhatti issued notices and sought comments from the Interior Secretary, director general FIA, director FIA Sindh, additional director FIA Immigration and deputy attorney journal over the issue.

The hearing was adjourned till April 23.
Earlier on April 2, the government had rejected Musharraf's application seeking removal of his name from the ECL.
Musharraf is currently in Karachi at his daughter's house in what was described by his aides as a "short visit".

There is intense speculation here that his trip to Karachi is part of a strategy to send him abroad.
However, his aides stress that he is in Karachi to meet his family, friends and party workers.
Yesterday, a three-member medical team checked on Musharraf and advised him to undergo an angiography to ascertain the level of danger to his heart.
Musharraf had reached Karachi from Islamabad on Saturday evening in a chartered plane amid tight security and was taken to the General's Colony in a large convoy.
On March 31, Musharraf was formally charged in a special court for subverting and circumventing the Constitution by imposing emergency on November 3, 2007. The court had on April 16 ruled that daily hearings would be held starting April 24.

Since Musharraf returned to Pakistan from self-exile in March last year, he has faced prosecution in four major cases, including for his alleged involvement in the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
The former president, who is the first military ruler in Pakistan's history to be tried in court, has rejected all the charges levelled against him.