The Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought reply from the government till May 23 in a petition challenging detention of Jamatud Dawa (JuD) Chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and other leaders. Earlier, Additional Attorney General Naseer Ahmad Bhutta stated that a federal review board had taken up the matter of the petitioners' detention on May 13 and asked the court to defer the hearing of the petition till decision by the board.

JuD's counsel AK Dogar argued that the government formed the review board after expiry of first 3-month detention period of Hafiz Saeed and others. He said the government was required to produce the detainees before a review board prior to expiry of their detention period. The counsel said the detention period of the petitioners was extended without the mandatory approval of the review board. He asked the court to set aside the detention of the petitioners for being unconstitutional. In this case, the ministry of interior had taken a stance that no violation of law was made in issuance of the detention orders against the petitioners. It said the detention orders were issued under section 11EE of Anti Terrorism Act 1997 which deals with the proscription of person.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017