Pakistan, June 27 -- The Islamabad High Court has ruled that placing a citizen's name on the Passport Control List (PCL) without following the prescribed legal procedure is unlawful, reaffirming that travel restrictions can only be imposed through proper legal authority and due process.

In a five-page written judgment, Justice Muhammad Azam Khan ordered the removal of citizen Zain Atiq's name from the Passport Control List after finding that the authorities had failed to establish any lawful basis for keeping him on the list.

The case involved a Pakistani citizen who was deported from Turkiye in July 2022. Following his deportation, his name was added to the PCL. However, the court observed that no competent authority had formally deter...