LAHORE, Feb 15: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Punjab Home Department directing it to explain in writing within 10 days the reason for detention of two members of the defunct Hizbut Tehreer.

The notice was issued on a writ petition moved by Mohammad Saleem Sethi of Gujranwala and Adnan Butt of Lahore seeking their release from detention where they were placed on Oct 29 last year after their arrest from outside the Muslim Masjid, Lohari Gate.

They, along with 13 other members of the outlawed organization, were detained for three months under 16-MPO and other charges. The provincial government withdrew the first order on Nov 1 and issued another on Dec 24 under which all Hizbut Tehreer members, including Asadur Rehman Jagranvi and his brother Saad Jagranvi of Gulberg, Lahore, were detained for 90 days under Section 11 (EE) of the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorist Activities Act charging them with involvement in religious militancy.

The Hizbut Tehreer members were lodged at jails in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan. The petitioner's counsel sought that the detention order be set aside, and submitted that Saleem Sethi and Adnan Butt had never been involved in any activity against the state and the national security and had no criminal history.

The detention order was issued without any reasonable ground and without taking into consideration the basis of their activities. The order, he submitted, was malafide in intention and had no legal basis.