Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that no citizen can be placed on the Passport Control List (PCL) or barred from travelling abroad without clear legal authority and full compliance with prescribed legal procedures.
The verdict was issued by Justice Raja Inam Amin Minhas in a detailed judgment on a petition filed by a citizen who was offloaded at the airport while travelling to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.
The court declared the relevant provision of Rule 22(2)(b) of the Passport Rules 2021 inconsistent with the Constitution and directed the authorities to prepare the PCL strictly under the Passport Act 1974 and the procedure laid down in the relevant rules.
It ordered that copies of the judgment be provided to the Interior Secretary, the Director General of Immigration and Passports, and the Director General of the FIA.
The petitioner, identified as Moinuddin, had previously been sentenced to three years in prison in Saudi Arabia on charges of dangerous driving and was deported after completing his sentence.
The court noted that his passport had neither been cancelled nor confiscated, and he had faced no restriction in holding valid travel documents or renewing his passport.
After obtaining a visa, Moinuddin had planned to travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah but was stopped at the airport. The court observed that no case or inquiry was pending against him and that he was not wanted by any law-enforcement agency.
The authorities have been directed to remove the name of Moinuddin from the PCL within 15 days.
The judgment also expressed serious concern over the failure of authorities to properly implement an earlier court order dated January 15, 2026, which had directed them to decide the petitioner’s case within one week.
