KARACHI, June 22: The Sindh High Court disposed of a detainee’s petition on Friday following his release on Thursday evening. Syed Mumtaz Hussain was deported from Dubai (UAE), where he worked as computer engineer, and was picked up on his arrival at the Karachi airport on July 3, 2006. His wife and children were allowed to proceed to their residence. When his wife moved a petition for his recovery and production, the federal and provincial agencies expressed their ignorance about his whereabouts.

The interior ministry, however, belatedly informed the court that Mumtaz had been detained under the Security Act and his detention had been sanctioned by the federal review board that examines cases of preventive detention under federal laws. The court ordered production of the material on the basis of which the detainee had been held, summoned federal interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah and asked the authorities to produce him.

The order was complied with on June 20 when Mr Shah informed the court that the review board had called for the detainee’s release after the initial sanction and he was being freed. As the petition again came up for hearing on Friday, the petitioner’s counsel, Haider Imam Rizvi, informed the division bench comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Mrs Qaiser Iqbal that Mumtaz was released on Thursday night and reached home safely.