Lahore High Court issues guidelines restricting Federal Investigation Agency from offloading passengers without valid legal grounds, emphasizing transparency and documentation.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued fresh guidelines to restrict the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arbitrarily offloading passengers travelling abroad. The court ruled that citizens with valid visas, tickets, and travel documents cannot be stopped based on vague suspicions or apprehensions alone. Justice Raheel Kamran, in a nine-page written judgment, directed immigration officials to record detailed reasons before any passenger is offloaded and ensure all questions asked from passengers are properly documented.
The LHC emphasized the right to travel abroad as a fundamental constitutional right and the FIA’s powers are not unlimited. The court declared illegal the FIA's decision to offload Muhammad Abbas, who was travelling to Nigeria with valid documents. Justice Kamran Abbas had already received immigration clearance and a boarding card but was suddenly stopped from boarding his flight.
The court highlighted that the FIA failed to provide any valid reason for rejecting Abbas’s explanation of visiting his brother in Nigeria. It directed authorities to electronically preserve interviews or conversations wherever possible and provided copies of offloading orders to affected passengers. Justice Kamran stressed that recording reasons is not a mere formality but a legal requirement, emphasizing transparency, fairness, and strict adherence to the law.
In response to the court’s ruling, Minister of State for Interior & Narcotics Control Talal Chaudhry told the National Assembly on May 23 that passengers with valid passports and visas are sometimes subjected to additional profiling and screening to prevent misuse of legal travel channels. He acknowledged this system helps identify high-risk travel patterns linked to smuggling networks but also noted complaints from passengers who were offloaded despite having complete documents.
Chaudhry strengthened monitoring had reduced illegal migration attempts by an estimated 47%, a significant improvement under the prime minister’s zero-tolerance policy on illegal immigration. He emphasized that the purpose of the system is not to stop genuine travellers but to block human smuggling networks, adding that strict action is being taken against these networks operating in and outside the country.
This ruling aims to protect citizens’ fundamental rights while ensuring a balance between security measures and administrative transparency.
