Why were three Bahria Town officials off-loaded from a Saudi Arabia-bound flight? This question has been raised by the Islamabad High Court, which will hear the case today (Thursday).
The query arose from three separate petitions filed by retired brigadiers Tahir Butt, Zafar Iqbal Shah, and Manzoor Hussain Mughal. Each petition is set for a hearing before a different bench. Butt heads ‘Land Security’ for Bahria Town, Shah handles land matters, and Mughal is the chief surveyor for all real estate projects of the controversial developer Malik Riaz.
Recently, Bahria Town and Malik Riaz have been in the spotlight. Riaz posted on social media, claiming pressure to take a political side. Following this, the National Accountability Bureau and local law enforcement raided the real estate firm’s Rawalpindi offices on Tuesday.
Malik Riaz is well-connected in political and military circles, but his Bahria Town business faces legal issues. The developer is involved in multiple court cases, alleging questionable land acquisition tactics for its projects.
In court, the three officials stated they were disembarked by immigration staff at Islamabad airport while heading to perform Umrah. Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb converted one petition into a representation and referred it to the Ministry of Interior. Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Arbab Mohammad Tahir issued notices to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The FIA submitted a ‘Stoplist Document’ from the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS), showing the three men were on the Passport Control List at the General Headquarters’ recommendation. An FIA official said they were blacklisted on an intelligence agency’s recommendation.
The agency explained that IBMS is integrated with the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports for real-time information transmission. Once a name is placed or removed from the PCL, it is transmitted to FIA IBMS for implementation.
The court has asked the Ministry of Defence to explain why their names were placed on the stop list. A response is expected today.
