FCC Restores DGIP Authority to Place Citizens on Passport Control List

The Federal Cabinet Committee has restored previously annulled provisions authorising the Director General of Immigration and Passports to place Pakistani citizens on a Passport Control List, a move that revives a mechanism allowing executive authorities to restrict the travel documents of individuals deemed of interest by the state.

The restoration of these provisions reverses an earlier annulment that had effectively stripped the DGIP of this authority, and signals a deliberate policy decision to reinstate executive-level controls over passport issuance and travel permissions. The Passport Control List is a tool that has historically been used — and criticised — in relation to political figures, journalists, and activists.

Civil liberties advocates are likely to raise concern over the reinstatement, arguing that the PCL mechanism has in the past been deployed against individuals without adequate judicial oversight or transparent legal process. The restoration of these powers to an executive agency rather than through a judicial order concentrates significant authority in the immigration bureaucracy.

The Federal Cabinet Committee's decision underscores the government's preference for maintaining robust administrative tools to manage movement of citizens it deems to warrant monitoring, particularly in the context of ongoing political tensions and security concerns.

The move will be closely scrutinised by legal experts, opposition parties, and international human rights observers, who will assess whether adequate safeguards exist to prevent the abuse of PCL authority against individuals exercising legitimate political or journalistic activities.