Rawalpindi - Model Ayyan Ali managed to get back her passport from the custody of Pakistan Customs as a customs, anti-smuggling and taxation court accepted her plea in this regard yesterday.
The court ordered the accused model to submit two surety bonds worth Rs 1 million each. The accused model was also ordered to submit her personal surety bond worth Rs 1 million before the court.
The investigators of Pakistan Customs seized the passport of Ayyan soon after she was arrested at Rawal Lounge of Benazir Bhutto Islamabad International Airport in March 2015 while making an attempt to smuggle $506800 to Dubai.
Earlier when the court resumed hearing of the case, Customs Inspector Saleem opposed the plea for return of the passport to the accused model.
He argued that Ayyan can flee the country if she was given her passport back. “The passport is substantial evidence in the currency smuggling case and this should not be returned to the accused model,” Saleem added.
The court, however, accepted Ayyan’s plea and ordered Customs authorities to return her passport.
The court further noted that property of Ayyan would be confiscated if she did not return to Pakistan upon summoning. Ayyan Ali was also asked to produce her passport before the court whenever she was asked by the judge.
Earlier, Sardar Khurram Latif Khosa Advocate had filed the application with court on behalf of model for return of her passport. In his arguments, Khurram added that her client needed travelling document to proceed to Dubai to see her ailing mother Farhat Sultana.
He said that the model had already signed contracts with different international advertising companies and the managements of those companies were asking the model to fulfil her obligations. “Some $506800 has already been in custody of the court and the money belonged to Ayyan Ali and she will never escape from Pakistan,” he mentioned.
Khurram said that seizure of the passport was a violation of basic human rights.
He said that Ayyan could not be stopped from travelling abroad merely on the base of allegations of currency smuggling.
Earlier, a special customs court on November 19 indicted model Ayyan Ali in the currency smuggling case after over eight months of her arrest. However, Ayyan had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The court has summoned prosecution witnesses on December 8 to record their statements.
Ayyan’s lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa maintains that no proof of currency smuggling has been found during interrogation and that Ayyan, while carrying the currency, had yet not attained the boarding pass and was going to leave after handing over the money to her brother.
The high-profile case has been feverishly followed by the media due to Ayyan’s celebrity status and alleged political connections.