Lahore: Federal Interior and Narcotics Control Minister Mohsin Naqvi Friday expressed dissatisfaction with the facilities available for passengers at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi along with Federal Minister of Aviation and Defense Khawaja Asif paid two-hour long visit to Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore.

The federal ministers reviewed the management for the passengers at the immigration counters, also observed the search process of Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Airports Security Force (ASF) and Customs. They also reviewed the facilities available for the passengers at the airport.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the facilities for passengers at the airport, the federal ministers decided that the immigration counters would be increased at the Lahore airport for the convenience of passengers going abroad.

The Home Minister ordered that the long and three-tier search process at the airport be simplified and expedited.

He asked ASF, ANF and Customs officials for a plan to facilitate the search and directed them to prepare and submit a workable plan in the next 24 hours.

A meeting was also held in the conference room of the airport under the chairmanship of the federal ministers, in which a briefing was given about the measures to facilitate the passengers at the airport. The federal ministers issued necessary instructions to the relevant authorities to increase the facilities for the passengers.

Speaking in the meeting, Federal Aviation Minister Khawaja Asif said that after the successful experience at Lahore Airport, the search process will be started at other airports as well. The relevant institutions need to take immediate steps to facilitate the movement of passengers at the airports.

The Minister of Interior while ordering the increase in the number of immigration counters at the arrival and departure terminal abroad said: “The number of immigration counters should be increased immediately to save the passengers from the hassle of waiting. The final plan to increase immigration counters should be presented within three days”.

Mohsin Naqvi further said that by increasing the immigration counters, passengers will be relieved from waiting, and out-of-the-box measures should be taken to provide maximum facilities to the passengers.

Islamabad: The Supreme Court Friday fixed the Faizabad sit-in case for hearing and issued notices to the concerned parties.

According to the details, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa will hear the case on May 6.

The report of the Faizabad Dharna Commission will be submitted to the court on behalf of the federal government.

It is pertinent to note that on April 16, the Faizabad Dharna Commission set up to investigate the 2017 sit-in by Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) submitted its report to the federal government. Among other things, it was recommended to draft legislation and rules to regulate the functioning of intelligence agencies.

In the third week of January this year, the inquiry commission had to finalize the report and submit it to the Supreme Court. The federal government had directly approached the Apex Court for an extension of the stipulated time.

The position was adopted in the petition that the Faizabad Commission cannot finalize the report on the date given by the Supreme Court, the period of the inquiry commission should be extended.

Earlier on January 22, the Supreme Court had given one more month to the Faizabad Dharna Inquiry Commission to submit its report.

It may be noted that on November 15, during the hearing of the review petitions in the Supreme Court against its decision regarding the 2017 sit-in of TLP in Faizabad, the federal government had told the apex court that for the investigation into the matter, the government has formed a commission for this.