Overview
- An Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad on Monday directed the Federal Investigation Agency to block the passports of scores of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf figures so they cannot leave the country while a criminal probe continues.
- Court records and media reports list between 24 and 26 named PTI lawmakers and leaders whose travel documents were ordered blocked, including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and senior MPs such as Asad Qaiser and Omar Ayub.
- The ATC also issued arrest warrants for several PTI MNAs and K‑P Assembly members who repeatedly failed to appear in connection with FIRs lodged at Kohsar and Margalla police stations after the November 26, 2024 protest.
- Separately, the Federal Constitutional Court has admitted a petition contesting Sohail Afridi’s election as K‑P chief minister and issued notices to respondents and the attorney general for a hearing on the constitutional questions raised.
- Blocking passports is a standard judicial precaution enforced by the FIA to prevent suspects leaving Pakistan, and these twin criminal and constitutional moves could limit the mobility of PTI leaders and heighten pressure on the party’s provincial leadership.