The Ministry of Defence has submitted a written response to a petition filed by former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani at Islamabad High Court, urging the court not to remove his name from the exit control list (ECL).
According to the contents of the response reported by a private TV channel, the ministry has told the court that it has evidence which suggests Durrani remained in contact with Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) as well as anti-state elements from other countries since 2008. In its para-wise comments submitted in response to Durrani’s petition in the IHC on Wednesday, the defence ministry said the former ISI chief’s name was placed on the no-fly list for “his involvement in anti-state activities”. It said a perusal of the book ‘The Spy Chronicles’ revealed that it contained “certain contents concerning [the] national security of Pakistan, being in contravention of the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts, 1923.
“It is further highlighted that there are [a] number of such publications on the way, supported by hostile elements which contain content to create misperception, confusions, question marks against the top leadership circles at country level and to target the common people,” reads the ministry’s response. It added that Durrani had been “affiliated/interacting with hostile elements especially Indian RAW since 2008”, saying although he had submitted an affidavit “committing to refrain from such activities” to the government, the same had still not been seen “in tangible terms”.
According to the ministry’s reply, Rule 2(c) of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Rules, 2010, authorised the federal government to prohibit a person from exiting Pakistan for a foreign destination if the said person is involved in “‘acts of terrorism or its conspiracy’, ‘heinous crimes’ and ‘threatening national security'”.
