LAHORE: A provincial review board on Thursday extended the detention of Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed for another 30 days.
However, the board rejected the request of extending the detention of his four aides, which was lapsing on October 26.
The board—headed by Justice Muhammad Yawar Ali—passed the orders with a majority vote on an application filed by the Punjab government, seeking an extension of detention of Saeed and his four aides under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO). The board held in-camera proceedings of the matter at Lahore High Court (LHC).
Earlier, Hafiz Saeed and his aides—Malik Zafar Iqbal Shahbaz, Abdur Rehman Abid, Qazi Kashif Hussain, Abdullah Ubaid—were presented before the review board under strict security.
Besides law officers, foreign affairs secretary and interior secretary also appeared before the board on being summoned,
The board heard the arguments of parties at length and extended the extension of Hafiz Saeed, while rejecting the request to extend the detention of his four aides.
The provincial authorities had detained Hafiz Saeed and his aides under Section 11-EEE(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1977, since January 31, 2017. However, a few days back, the government did not extend the notification for their detention under ATA sections, and withdrew application pending before a federal review board for their extension.
The authorities, however, decided to keep Hafiz Saeed and his aides under house arrest; but under Section 3 of MPO. The government had approached the provincial review board for extension in their detention.
It is pertinent to mention here that Saeed and his fellows had already challenged their house arrest under MPO in LHC.
