LONDON: The Pakistan High Commission (PHC) in London has refused to renew the passport of Mirza Shahzad Akbar, the former adviser to the prime minister Imran Khan on interior and accountability, reliable sources have told Geo News.
According to sources, Akbar, who has been living in exile in London since April 2022, visited the Pakistan High Commission on October 29 after securing an online appointment for renewal of his passport, which had expired earlier this year.
However, when he appeared at the High Commission for biometric verification and submission of documents, officials reportedly declined to process his application, informing him that his passport had been blocked by the authorities in Islamabad.
It is learnt that the interior ministry and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) had formally cancelled and blocked Akbar’s passport in 2023, following a request from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case — the same case in which former PM Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been convicted.
According to media reports, others named in the same case, including Farhat Shahzadi (Farah Gogi), Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari (Zulfi Bukhari) and two others, have also had their passports either cancelled or marked as “blocked”.
Akbar, a barrister by profession and former head of the government’s Asset Recovery Unit (ARU), left Pakistan in April 2022, shortly after the ouster of the Khan government. His name had been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) but he managed to leave the country after the Islamabad High Court ordered its removal, ruling that the ban was unlawful.
Interestingly, the situation marks an ironic twist in Pakistan’s political history. During his tenure as adviser on interior, Akbar’s ministry had similarly refused to renew the passports of former PM Nawaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, and few others — who were then living in exile in London.
Now, three years later, the same fate appears to have befallen Akbar himself. “The message is clear, he is wanted back in Pakistan,” an official told Geo News, adding that passport renewal will remain conditional on his physical return and cooperation with NAB investigators.
Once regarded as Khan’s key anti-corruption czar, Akbar previously served as a Special Prosecutor with NAB between 2004 and 2008, where he worked on major alleged corruption cases involving Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari, and Shahbaz Sharif, who is now the sitting prime minister.
Akbar confirmed that his passport renewal request has been refused. A Pakistan High Commission said passports and other identity papers are issued as per the laws of Pakistan.