The Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, on Friday recused himself from hearing an appeal filled by the former Director General Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt-General (retd) Asad Durrani.

The petition was filled in 2019 by the former spy master to seek removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and was currently being reviewed by the IHC court.

The appeal was being heard by a single-member bench comprising Justice Kayani, who decided to step aside from the case due to reasons he can not "state aloud". The IHC judge, during the course of hearing said that he is familiar with the background of the case yet can not continue hearing the appeal.

It was also reported by the Business Recoder that before his decision to recuse himself, Justice Kiyani was at one stage about to issue a verdict.

Durrani vs Defense Ministry:

The Defense Ministry had decided to put the Durrani's on the ECL after he co-authored a book in 2018, titled “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”, with Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former chief of India’s spy agency - Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

After the book was made public, the Military Intelligence (MI) had written to the Interior Ministry to put Durrani’s name on the ECL. Taking action of MI's request, the Interior Ministry had barred Durrani from leaving the country in May 2018.

The former spy chief challenged the move in the IHC in 2019.

During the proceedings of the appeal, the Defense Ministry had submitted a written reply in the IHC urging the court not to remove Durrani’s name from the ECL. The ministry had informed the court that it has evidence which suggests Durrani remained in touch with RAW.

The Defense Ministry also said that it has evidence which suggests that Durrani has been in contact with anti-state elements from other countries since 2008.