ISLAMABAD - The government has cancelled the diplomatic passports of 10 members of former prime minister Imran Khan’s cabinet more than a year after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was ousted, it emerged on Saturday.
A notification issued by the Director General of Immigration and Passports on May 24 said that the competent authority has decided to ‘cancel and inactivate’ diplomatic passports issued to 10 individuals who were no longer entitled to retain the same. These include nine PTI stalwarts and one Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. The PTI leaders whose diplomatic passports have been cancelled include Aon Abbas Bappi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak, Ali Amin Gandapur, Ali Muhammad Khan, Farrukh Habib, Zartaj Gul, and Azam Khan Swati besides the AML chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. All these individuals were part of Imran Khan’s cabinet when he was in power from 2018-2022. In his reaction to the development, the AML chief said he had been a federal minister for 16 times and was never involved in corruption. “I did not run away from the country like Zardari, Nawaz but today my [diplomatic] passport has been revoked,” he said.
Schedule IV of Passport Rules 2021 explains who can hold diplomatic passports. Under the rules, on the recommendations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these passports can only be issued to President of Pakistan, Prime minister of Pakistan, Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Governors of the provinces, Chief ministers of the provinces, Ministers of the government of Pakistan, Attorney general for Pakistan, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Ex-presidents of Pakistan, Ex- prime ministers of Pakistan, Ministers of state to the Government of Pakistan, ex-chairmen of the Senate of Pakistan and ex-speakers of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Special Assistants To Prime Minister, all functionaries of the federal government with the status of federal minister or minister of state, Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Officers in BPS-17 and above of Pakistan Foreign Service for the duration of their membership of the Foreign Service of Pakistan, all other officers in BPS-17 and above, including officers of armed forces having equivalent ranks proceeding abroad on diplomatic assignments and having diplomatic status for the duration of their posting or other short term assignments abroad.
