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Lahore High Court Orders Written Reasons for Offloading Passengers

The move enforces a paper‑trail safeguard that tests the legal basis of Pakistan’s mass offloading drive.

Overview

  • Justice Ali Zia Bajwa issued an interim order holding that travellers restrained from leaving the country must receive written reasons at the time of offloading.
  • Failure to provide written reasons was described as a breach of due process and the constitutional right to freedom of movement.
  • The court directed government law officers to identify the specific legal provisions authorising offloading and to give the petitioner a written explanation before the next hearing.
  • A government law officer acknowledged in court that no written reasons were on record for the petitioner’s offloading.
  • The order follows FIA disclosures to lawmakers that 66,154 travellers were offloaded in 2025, including about 51,000 over document veracity concerns, as the government forms a high‑level committee led by Chaudhry Salik to standardise verification.