LAHORE, Dec 20: The Lahore High Court directed the state on Friday to file reply on a petition that the apprehended physician picked up by the FBI on Thursday might be taken outside Pakistan.

Justice Raja Mohammad Sabir has directed both the Pakistan attorney-general and deputy attorney-general to furnish reply on Dec 24 on behalf of federal and provincial government, respectively.

The petitioner, Amtal Jalil Khwaja, wife of Dr Ahmad Javed Khwaja, challenged the arrest of her husband along with his eight family members from his residence in a joint operation carried out by the FBI and local police.

Federal interior ministry, home secretary, Punjab government, Punjab IG and Manawan police station SHO have been arraigned as respondents in the petition.

In the petition taken up as the urgent prayer on Friday, the LHC has been requested for the recovery of detainees through court bailiff and providing legal cover to them while ensuring that they are not taken outside its jurisdiction.

The petitioner feared that the arrested family members would be taken outside Pakistan and that their whereabouts were not known to her as yet.

Counsel Hamid Khan, arguing the petition, submitted that a huge force of local police along with three foreigners (two male and a female) raided the house of Dr Khwaja on Thursday night.

According to him, the security guard deputed outside the house raised an alarm after being beaten up by the raiding contingents, and as a result, Dr Khwaja had to rush out of his house.

The moment Dr Khwaja came out of his house, the police arrested him and forced entry into the house and separated all the male family members, including the children, from the female members who were taken to another room, the counsel submitted.

Later, all the male members, including Dr Khwaja, his two sons Dr Omar Karar and Dr Khizar Ali, his brothers Ahmad Naveed Khwaja and Ahmad Nadeem Khwaja, nephews Usman Ali and Hassan Ali, and Dr Khwaja’s uncle Farooq Mir were taken into custody by the raiding officials. The female members were threatened and asked to keep quiet following the arrest.

As argued by the petitioner, she and her family members were law-binding citizens and had been giving free treatment to the poor and needy patients.

She submitted that it was the responsibility of the state to provide legal shelter to her family since the manner in which her family members had been arrested was the violation of their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Raising the legal contentions, the counsel also argued that article 10 of the Constitution had been violated as the nine detainees had not been produced before a magistrate till the filing of this petition for obtaining their physical remand and no grounds of reasons had been disclosed before a court of law.

Moreover, article 9 guaranteeing the life and liberty and article 14 of the Constitution giving surety of human dignity to every citizen of Pakistan have further been violated, argued the petitioner.

It was alleged that the privacy of the aggrieved family was severely damaged through the arrests and their right of freedom of movement had been usurped in sheer violation of article 15 of the Constitution.