LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday put the Punjab Home Department on a notice on a petition challenging the detention of Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and his four aides, and the placing of their names under the Fourth Schedule.
The court’s divisional bench, headed by Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim, ordered the Home Department to submit its reply by March 7 to justify Saeed and his aides’ detention.
The Punjab government had, on January 31 this year, placed JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and four other party leaders under house arrest after a letter was issued by the Interior Ministry.
The court’s notice was issued a day after the JuD chief and his four aides moved the LHC, challenging their house arrests and being added to the fourth schedule. The JuD also challenged the Interior Ministry putting the names of 37 of its leaders on the Exit Control List (ECL).
Hafiz Saeed and other JuD leaders filed the petition through advocate AK Dogar.
Saeed’s detention came following Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s remarks that the government was taking steps to fulfil its international obligations regarding JuD.
A letter issued by the ministry to the provincial government on January 29 said that JuD as well Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), which is a public welfare arm of JuD, has been put on the watch list and listed in the second schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
In 2008, India accused the JuD chief for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, bringing Islamabad and New Delhi to the brink of a war. At least 166 people including tourists were killed by 10 armed men who went on a rampage that included attacks on two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre, and a train station.
Saeed has repeatedly denied the allegations and has distanced himself from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a banned militant group in Pakistan that India blames for the incident. Saeed was put under house arrest soon after the Mumbai attacks but was released on court orders in June 2009.
