LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday sought arguments from a provincial law officer on the powers of the government to detain a citizen without trial.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Syed Kazim Raza Shamsi, was hearing the petition of Jamatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, his aides Prof Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid, Qazi Kashif Hussain and Abdullah Ubaid who had challenged their detention.

Earlier, Advocate AK Dogar concluded his arguments on behalf of the petitioners on a note that the government had detained the JuD leaders without any justification.

The counsel argued that the UN resolution followed by the government did not seek detention of any citizen.

He said the detention of the JuD leaders was a case of mala fide intention and ulterior motive on part of the government. He reiterated that the government had detained the petitioners to please India and US.

Mr Dogar also questioned the powers of the provincial government to include any citizen in the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). He said such powers were solely vested with the federal government.

Referring to an Indian movie wherein Hafiz Saeed was portrayed as a villain, Justice Shamsi observed the government should see if there was any international conspiracy against the Pakistani citizens. The bench would resume hearing on Tuesday (today). In this case, the Punjab government had taken a stance that Hafiz Saeed and other leaders were detained for being a risk to the peace and security.

Wildlife: The Lahore High Court on Monday gave last opportunity to the Punjab Wildlife Department to file its report about hunting of blackbuck, an endangered deer specie.

Representing a public interest petition, Advocate Sheraz Zaka argued that blackbuck was a protected animal under third schedule of the Punjab Wildlife Act.

He said under a convention on international trade of endangered species and international union of natural habitat, blackbuck had been declared as a “near vanished” specie and hence it was vulnerable and its hunting was prohibited.

The lawyer argued that the wildlife department had not been taking steps to preserve the animal. He said the government authorities should be asked as to what remedial measures had been taken for the protection of blackbuck and to implement environmental policy 2015 for the protection of wildlife.

Justice Ayesha A. Malik expressed displeasure as nobody appeared on behalf of the wildlife department. The judge adjourned further hearing for two weeks giving a last chance to the department to submit its report.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2017