ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday stayed a landmark ruling by the Lahore High Court (LHC) that had struck down key provisions of the Passport Rules 2021, effectively restoring the federal government’s powers to deactivate passports and impose long-term travel bans on deportees and suspected human traffickers.
The interim measure means the state can continue to place people on the Passport Control List (PCL) and restrict their travel until the high court issues a final ruling on the matter.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, which heard an appeal filed by the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports, issued notices to the respondents, including citizen Farhan Ali and officials of the Federal Investigation Agency.
The case stems from the deportation of Vehari resident Farhan Ali from Iran. Upon his return, the FIA recommended placing his name on the PCL, following which the DGIP deactivated his passport and imposed a five-year travel ban.
Ali challenged the move before the Multan bench of the LHC, which, on December 23, 2025, ruled in his favour, declaring that Rule 23 of the Passport Rules, which allowed inactivation of the passport, went beyond the scope of Section 8 of the Passport Act, 1974 and was therefore ultra vires.
The LHC had also held that imposing a travel restriction of five years or more under Rule 22(2) was substantially ultra vires the parent law, observing that the powers to cancel, confiscate or forfeit a passport did not inherently include the authority to “inactivate” it.
However, in its appeal, the DGIP argued that the high court had struck down Rule 22(2)© even though Ali had not challenged that specific provision in his original petition.
The FIA further maintained that Ali had been deported from Iran after illegally leaving Pakistan and violating foreign immigration laws as well as international norms.
“Pakistan, as a responsible State, has endorsed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of 2000 and has signed the United Nations protocol to prevent, suppress and punish human trafficking, which is the world’s main legal instrument to combat human trafficking,” the DGIP petition highlights.
The petition argued that discouraging illegal migration was the responsibility of the state, adding that people who brought the country into disrepute could not be allowed to benefit from employment opportunities abroad. During the hearing, Judge Rizvi questioned whether the case concerned illegal migration in general or travel through informal or “dunki” migration routes.
Representing the government, Additional Solicitor General Chaudhry Aamir Rehman said Ali’s inclusion in the PCL was a direct consequence of his deportation from Iran.
The petition further contended that under Section 11 of the Passport Act, 1974, the federal government could delegate its powers to the DGIP, which had legally framed the Passport Rules, 2021.
Citing section 21 of the General Clauses Act 1897, he argued that the authority to cancel, seize or confiscate a passport inherently included the power to “inactivate” it, just as the power to create includes the power to modify or revoke.
The DGIP also referred to the Supreme Court’s directions in a 2017-2018 human rights case that called for standard operating procedures for blacklisting human traffickers and deportees, including cancellation of passports and time-bound restrictions.
He argued that curbing deportees’ travel was in line with international commitments and stressed that the right to travel abroad under Article 15 of the Constitution was not absolute.
The petition urged the FCC to overturn the LHC ruling and uphold the validity of placing people on the PCL for five years under Rule 22(2)©, arguing that the move was neither arbitrary nor ultra vires.
