KARACHI, Feb 27: The Sindh High Court accepted an unconditional apology tendered by the federal interior secretary on Tuesday and discharged a contempt notice against him.

Syed Kamal Shah was summoned by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab to explain why it took the interior ministry four months to exclude the name of Commodore (retd) Ashfaq Baig, an acquitted accountability accused, from the exit control list despite a court direction.

When the petitioner initiated contempt proceedings, a section officer of the ministry came up with an assertion already rejected by the high court that an appeal against its order was pending in the Supreme Court.

The officer, however, informed the court that the petitioner’s name had been taken off the ECL and that he had been issued a passport after consultation with the National Accountability Bureau.

The petitioner and his counsel, Azizullah K. Shaikh, did not press for further proceedings but the court took a serious view of the belated and reluctant implementation of the court order and the stand taken by the ministry. The interior secretary appeared on Tuesday and tendered an unconditional apology.

Discharging the notice following an assurance that there would be no recurrence of conduct, the bench observed that state functionaries should comply with court orders promptly and without hesitation unless a stay order had been obtained by the government.