BEFORE THE PESHAWAR HIGH COURT, PESHAWAR

Writ Petition No._________-P/2023

Sami Ullah S/o Hussain Ullah R/o Mohallah Azim Abad,

village Jalbai Tehsil Lahor District Swabi.
...….. Petitioner

VERSUS

1. National Accountability Bureau through its Chairman

Constitution Avenue, Islamabad.

2. Director General National Accountability Bureau, Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa, Phase-V, Hayatabad, Peshawar.

3. Ministry of Interior through it Secretary, Pakistan

Secretariat.

4. Director General FIA, Islamabad.

5. Director Immigration, Islamabad.

6. Director General NADRA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, phase-V,

Hayatabad, Peshawar.

7. Habib Bank Ltd, through its Manager/Chief Manager,

University Campus, Peshawar.

… Respondents

Writ Petition under Article 199 of the Constitution of

Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, with all Amendments
up to date, Challenging Inaction of Respondent No. 3
and Seeking Removal of Petitioner's Name from Exit
Control List, Unblocking of CNIC, Passport, and Bank
Accounts, and Acknowledgement of the Void Jurisdiction
of the NAB on the basis of the Factual and Legal Grounds
Discussed Herein.
Respectfully Sheweth:

BRIEF FACTS;

1. That, Petitioner, is a law-abiding resident of District Swabi and

CEO with 65% stake in M/S Xeros Private Limited, engaged in
a lawful business of dealing with cars and dutifully paid taxes.
Despite facing financial strain due to COVID-19 in 2020, the
petitioner responsibly settled all obligations to shareholders,
disbursing 84 million rupees via proper banking channels and
providing 65 vehicles for settlement

2. That NAB / Respondent No.1 took cognizance of the matter on

complaints of some shareholders, lodged Reference No.2 of
2021 in Accountability Court-I, Peshawar. After declining pre-
arrest bail by trial court, the petitioner was arrested on
08/03/2023, and was then released on post-arrest bail on the
grounds of merit by this court on 11/08/2022 (Annexure ‘C').

3. That due enactment of numerous amendments to NAO 1999,

notably Act no. XI of 2022 and Act no XIVof 2022, NAB's
jurisdiction was retroactively removed for cases with fewer
than 100 complainants and sums less than 500 million.
Therefore, such cases are no longer under NAB or
Accountability court's purview and must be referred back to
courts of Ordinary Jurisdiction. Consequently, before any
charges were framed against the petitioner, the accountability
court returned Reference no. 2 of 2021 to NAB via an order
dated 15.09.2022.

4. That it is pertinent to mention here that during the course of

investigation, on request of NAB / respondent No.1, the name
of the petitioner has been placed on ECL vide letter dated
28.11.2020 (Copy of letter is annexed “G” and confirmation
letter by respondent no. 3 is annexed “H”)

5. That after failed attempts to remove his name from the ECL
through NAB, the petitioner sought intervention from this
court in writ petition No-3908-P/2022. The court's order on
01-11-2022 directed the petitioner to the relevant authority /
respondent No.3 and directing the respondents to examine
the matter lawfully in their subsequent meeting. (Pertinent
documents are included as Annexures 'I' and ‘J’).

6. That soon after disposal of the ibid Writ Petition, the

petitioner filed an application/review under section 3 of Exit
from Pakistan (control) ordinance, 1981 to the respondent
 No.3 on 16-11-2022 for removal his name from ECL dated
28-11-2020, including a follow up physical visit on 28.03.2023,
all efforts of the petitioner till date are went in vain. (Copy of
review application is attached as Annexure ‘k’)

7. That the petitioner has been significantly aggrieved by putting

his name on ECL, freezing his bank accounts, and blocking his
CNIC & Passport, plus respondents inaction on his
applications, the petitioner is left with no satisfactory, fast, or
alternative remedy but to invoke this court's constitutional
jurisdiction to file this writ petition on the following grounds
inter-alia;

GROUNDS

A. That over five years, the petitioner ran a business that reliably
paid profits to shareholders and paid its tax obligations.
Despite the financial challenges from the 2020 COVID-19
pandemic, the petitioner responsibly settled all liabilities,
paying 84 million rupees through proper banking channel and
distributing 65 vehicles to investors. Hence there is no
credible evidence of deceit or criminal intent from the
petitioner. Consequently, NAB authorities attempted to
transform a Private civil dispute into a criminal case is a
misguided, unfounded, malafide and illegal from the very
beginning of the inquiry.

B. That the NAB / respondent no. 1 travelled beyond their

jurisdiction to lay hand in the case and to file a reference,
because neither the amount involved nor the definition of
public at large satisfies the current legal requirement after
promulgation of the NAO Amendments and neither
previously satisfied the NAB Standard Operating procedures,
hence no offence of Cheating Public at larges U/S 9/10 of NAO,
has ever been committed by the petitioner therefore,
respondents wrongly placed the name of the petitioner in ECL
and thus, his bank accounts, CNIC and Passport has illegally
been blocked.

C. That it is incumbent upon the respondent no. 3 that before

exercising placing name on ECL upon recommendation of any
LEA, it shall apply its independent mind fairly and justifiably
to the facts of the case but the respondent passed the order to
place name of the petitioner in vacuum or mechanical
manner without the petitioner being heard, as it tends to
curtail the liberty of a person which resultantly tantamount to
 abridge his fundamental right guaranteed under the
“Constitution”

D. The reference filed against the petitioner is already returned

to the NAB office by the Accountability court through order
dated 15-09-2022 and till date no criminal proceedings is
pending in any competent court/ fora of law, hence the
petitioner name is wrongly continued to remain on ECL, and
thus his bank accounts, CNIC and Passport remains blocked
illegally.

E. That upon direction of this Hon’able court, the petitioner

approached to the respondent No.3 by filing Review
application to remove his name from ECL, despite the fact
that respondent conducted various meetings but did not
considered it appropriate to discuss and to give finding in its
meeting, thus the inaction of the respondent is violation of
the order and direction of this Hon’able court dated
01-11-2022.

F. The Respondents, by blocking the Petitioner's CNIC, Passport,

and Bank accounts, and placing his name on the ECL, have
grossly violated the Petitioner's constitutional rights. This
action contravenes the fundamental rights to freedom of
movement (Article 15), to conduct lawful trade or business
(Article 18), and to acquire, hold and dispose of property
(Article 23), as granted by the Constitution of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan.

G. That the impugned memorandum issued by respondent no. 3

was supposed to be lapse on the expiry of 120 days as of the
ECL rules 2010 but the petitioner’s treatment by the
Respondents infringes upon Article 25 of the Constitution,
which mandates that all citizens are equal before the law and
entitled to equal protection thereof. This unequal and unjust
treatment towards the Petitioner is both unconstitutional and
unacceptable.

H. That by blocking the Petitioner's CNIC and Passport and

placing his name on the ECL, the Respondents have
unlawfully restrained the Petitioner's personal liberty, thereby
violating Article 9 of the Constitution.

I. The petitioner, after being aware of the NAB reference,

conscientiously returned to Pakistan from Turkey on
protective bail and furnished surety bonds worth Rs. 10
 million each to the Accountability Court for post-arrest bail
and currently no case is pending against him. He now seeks
the lifting of travel restrictions and unblocking of his CNIC,
Passport, and Bank accounts. As the petitioner's frozen bank
accounts were inexplicably reduced from Rs. 70,000 to zero,
there appears to be no compelling rationale for the
persistence of these restrictions.

PRAYER

It is, therefore, most humbly prayed that on acceptance of

the instant writ petition, an appropriate writ may graciously be
issued against the respondents in favour of the petitioner
declaring and directing:

i. That the respondent No-3 may kindly be directed to withdrawn

the impugned notification No-12/251/2020-ECL dated
28-11-2020 and resultantly the name of the petitioner
immediately be removed from ECL .

ii. To direct the respondent No-2 and 6 to unblock the CNIC and
passport and further to defreeze the personal bank account and
company bank account maintained at HBL university campus
branch, HBL Phase 5 Hayatabad, HBL Ring Road and UBL Ring
Road.

iii. Any other remedy/relief which is not specifically asked for may
kindly be granted in favour of petitioner.