LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday ordered to release chief of Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), Hafiz Saeed who was kept under house arrest since January.
The JuD chief will be released on Thursday.
According to Reuters report, the Punjab government had asked for an extension to Saeed’s detention but the request was turned down by the court.
Hafiz Saeed was detained after the United States pressurised the federal government to do so; and India expressed severe reservations. Hafiz has been accused of being the mastermind of 2008 attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people.
However, Hafiz Saeed, through his lawyer AK Dogar Advocate, had challenged his detention orders submitting that the requirements laid by the Supreme Court for the purpose were not fulfilled. He requested the court to set aside the detention and order his release.
The provincial authorities had detained him and his four aides under Section 11-EEE (1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1977, on January 31 this year.
Nonetheless, the authorities decided to keep Saeed and his aides under house arrest under Section 3 of the MPO.
