LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Wednesday sought a report from the Punjab home department about detention of Jamatud Dawa chief and his aides.

The bench headed by Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan took up the petition filed by JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, his aides Prof Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid, Qazi Kashif Hussain and Abdullah Ubaid challenging their detention ordered by provincial government.

Advocate A K Dogar represented the petitioners.

The bench held a brief hearing of the petition and directed the home department to submit its report by March 7.

JuD leaders Abdul Rehman Makki, Abul Hashim Rabbani, Muhammad Yahya Mujahid, Hafiz Talha Saeed and others were present at the hearing.

The petitioners had stated the Punjab government, in the light of interior ministry’s order, detained them for a period of 90 days in exercise of powers under Section 11-EEE(1) of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

They contended that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had in a statement said the government was fulfilling its obligations under UN resolutions. They said by doing so the government proved that Pakistan was a servile and a dependent state.

The petitioners pleaded that the impugned orders issued by the government were without jurisdiction. They said the government had no evidence that they (detainees) were risk to security of Pakistan and merely on the basis of the UN resolutions their liberty could not be curtailed. They asked the court to set aside the government notifications for being illegal and set them at liberty.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2017