The Lahore High Court's (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on Thursday termed the defence ministry's detention of Advocate Inamur Rahim — a retired colonel and petitioner in multiple cases of missing persons who was picked up from his home in Rawalpindi on Dec 17, 2019 — against the law.

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Presiding over the proceedings today, Justice Mirza Vaqas Rauf termed the lawyer's detention illegal and directed authorities to set Rahim free.

On Jan 2, the defe­nce ministry informed the LHC that Rahim was in the custody of its subordinate agency and that he was being probed for allegedly violating the Official Secret Act after the court sought a reply on a petition filed by the defence and interior ministries.

However, a representative for the defence ministry did not specify exactly what violations had been committed by the detained lawyer.

Rahim had previously filed numerous petitions for the recovery of missing persons and against administrative orders of the army or armed forces. Moreover, he was the counsel in petitions filed against high-profile court-martial proceedings about the GHQ attack and conviction of naval officers among others.

On Dec 17, 2019, Rahim's son Hasnain Inam said eight to 10 people in black uniforms with a Pakistani flag stitched on their arms forced their way into their house located on Rawalpindi's Adiala Road.

He added that he was overpowered after being pushed away by two people, and one person put his hand over his mouth. "The men then searched every room and forced [my father] into a pick-up truck at gunpoint and drove away," he said.