A A Pakistani court on Thursday freed Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and LeT’s chief of operations, suspending the Punjab government’s order to detain him under the public safety law, angering India.
Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haque of the Lahore High Court suspended Lakhvi’s (55) public order detention after the government failed to submit confidential material against him to the court.
The judge ordered Lakhvi to post two sureties worth Rs 1 million each for his release.
“The law enforcement officer provided vital information about Lakhvi, but the court did not accept it and found the evidence unsatisfactory,” an LHC official told PTI.
Judge Muhammad Anwarul Haque, in the last hearing on April 7, directed the government’s lawyer to submit a transcript of classified documents on Lakhvi’s activities on Thursday. Lakhvi had challenged the March 14 order of district coordinator Punjab government Okara to detain him for 30 days.
Lakhvi’s lawyer Raja Rizwan Abbasi argued that following the previous direction of the LHC, he filed an application with the Punjab Home Minister against his “illegal” detention, but the Home Minister rejected it and upheld the 30-day detention order issued by the District Coordinator Okara.
Mr. Abbasi said that a person cannot be detained for more than 90 days without obtaining an order from the review committee, and his client’s detention period exceeded 90 days. The provincial review committee consists of High Court judges. He noted that while the trial court granted bail to Lakhvi in December 2014, the District Judge of Islamabad ordered his detention.
The Islamabad High Court later overturned Lakhvi’s detention and ordered the government to release him.
However, Okara’s doping control officer issued another detention order and he was not released, the lawyer claims.
He asked the court to quash the impugned order and direct the government to release Lakhvi.
Lakhvi and six others have been charged with planning and executing the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
Published – April 9, 2015 4:17 pm EST.