LAHORE, Jan 2: The detention of Dr Ahmad Javed Khwaja and four members of his family was challenged in the Lahore High Court on Thursday.

Petitioners’ counsel Hamid Khan submitted that the detention orders, passed under Section 3 of The Security of Pakistan Act 1952, were aimed at frustrating the habeas corpus petition filed earlier by the wife of Dr Khwaja.

According to the petition, the state had committed contempt of court by not producing the detainees in court on Dec 31 and come up with frivolous detention orders to cover its illegal act.

It was argued in the petition that the detention orders had been passed on Dec 30, some 11 days after the detainees’ arrest in Manawan. The government did not even have any justification for that 11-day lapse.

The 10-page petition says that the grounds for detention are vague, since the state has not mentioned the anti-state activities alleged to have been undertaken by the five detainees. According to the petitioner, the detainees have not been given the opportunity to defend themselves properly before a court of law, which is also a violation of their fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

It has been alleged that the state has no legal or moral grounds for the detention of the five law-abiding citizens who have never been involved in any anti-state activity.

The petition would be argued before the LHC on Friday.