LHC orders Ayyan Ali to be released on bail

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Tuesday ordered supermodel Ayyan Ali to be released on bail, in the currency smuggling case.

She will now be able to spend Eid-ul-Fitr at home with her loved ones.

On June 29, Justice Abdul Sami Khan of LHC had denied bail after hearing arguments from both legal counsels.

During proceedings, legal counsel for the Customs department informed the court that Ayyan Ali did not have permission from the State Bank of Pakistan to carry the amount that was recovered from her, nor had she fulfilled the legal requirements to purchase the foreign currency.

The legal counsel added, that Ayyan Ali was trying to escape and had managed to cross all checkpoints, had she boarded the flight she would have made good her escape. The customs lawyer informed the court that Ayyan Ali had been arrested under section 7 of the Customs Act.

Meanwhile, Ayyan Ali’s lawyer Lateef Khosa argued that his client did not qualify as a passenger as she had not been issued a boarding card nor had her passport been stamped as is required when leaving the country. Khosa added, that any citizen of Pakistan can be present at the airport with any amount of cash.

Ayyan’s lawyer argued that the fashion model intended to hand over the cash to her brother who was arriving from another flight, therefore none of her actions fall under the crime of ‘smuggling’.

Ayyan Ali was arrested from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad on May 14, 2015 with USD 500,000. She had been accused of illegally trying to take this amount outside the country.