LHC bars FIA from offloading passengers without recorded legal grounds

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cannot stop citizens from travelling abroad without valid legal grounds if they hold a visa, ticket and required travel documents.

In a nine-page written judgment, Justice Raheel Kamran said the right to travel abroad is a fundamental constitutional right and that the FIA’s authority in immigration matters is not unlimited.

The court issued fresh guidelines for immigration officials, directing them to record detailed and meaningful reasons before offloading any passenger. It also ordered officials to document all questions asked of passengers and their replies, while interviews or conversations should be preserved electronically where possible.

The judgment said affected passengers must be given a copy of the offloading order or a proforma.

The court said recording reasons was a legal requirement and not a formality, adding that administrative powers must be used transparently, fairly and in accordance with the law.

The ruling came on a petition filed by citizen Muhammad Abbas, who challenged the FIA’s decision to stop him from travelling to Nigeria despite having valid travel documents, a visa and an air ticket.

According to the petitioner, he had already received immigration clearance and a boarding card before being stopped from boarding his flight.

The FIA argued that Muhammad Abbas was offloaded because of concerns that he might not return from Dubai.

However, the court observed that the petitioner was not wanted in any criminal case and was not part of any inquiry, blacklist or Exit Control List (ECL).

The judgment said the FIA had not recorded any valid reason for rejecting the petitioner’s explanation that he was travelling to Nigeria to visit his brother.

The ruling comes as FIA immigration practices have also come under parliamentary scrutiny. According to a report submitted to the Senate, at least 132 passengers were offloaded from scheduled flights at different airports across the country in the past year by FIA immigration officers.

The FIA informed the Senate earlier this week that strict measures were in place against immigration officials involved in the unjustified offloading of passengers or collaboration with human smugglers.

The agency said final inquiries during 2025 found 85 officials guilty of misuse of authority in immigration-related matters and that they were penalised.

Complaints against FIA officers included allegations of offloading, torture and taking a bribe of Rs500,000 from a passenger at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport.

The report also said immigration staff unjustifiably offloaded 15 candidates travelling on work visas.

Most cases related to passengers allegedly being offloaded multiple times after refusing to pay bribes to FIA officers.

In one case, the brother of a complainant was offloaded and not allowed to board his scheduled flight at Karachi airport.

FIA records showed that Islamabad International Airport recorded 62 offloading cases, followed by Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport with 54, Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport with 32, Multan with 21, Faisalabad with six and Sialkot with three.