ISLAMABAD: Fresh appeals were filed in Pakistan’s Supreme Court against the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks, a government lawyer said on Monday.
Hafiz Saeed, was put under house arrest in early December after a UN Security Council committee added him and the charity group he heads to a list of people and organizations linked to Al- Qaeda or the Taleban.
But the Lahore High Court ordered his release on June 2, citing a lack of evidence. “The court has said the detention of Hafiz Saeed was a violation of the constitution and the law of this country,” his counsel A.K. Dogar had said at that time.
The federal and Punjab provincial governments filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court on Monday, seeking the reversal of the order to release Hafiz Saeed and one associate.
Khawaja Haris representing government of Punjab challenged the verdict of the Lahore High Court pleading that Pakistan is part of the world community in its war against terrorism and there were indications of Hafiz Saeed’s involvement in terrorist activities. He pleaded that the Lahore High Court after reviewing its previous judgment and examining facts of the case should declare its earlier verdict null-and-void.
“We aren’t satisfied with the judgment of the high court,” Deputy Attorney-General Shah Khawar said.
“It did not give weight to the United Nations Security Council resolutions in respect of the JuD,” he said, referring to the charity that Hafiz Saeed heads.
Saeed’s detention had been lawful, Khawar said.
“For preventive detention, evidence isn’t necessary. It’s done on the basis of classified information which may not be produced before the court at this stage,” he said.
The assault on Mumbai, in which 166 people were killed, strained ties between the nuclear-armed rivals and led to an Indian freeze on a five-year peace process that had brought better relations.
India says the assault was carried out by Pakistan-based members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group and that they must have had backing from some official Pakistani agencies.
The LeT is banned in Pakistan.
The government denied any involvement by state agencies but acknowledged the coordinated attacks in India’s financial capital were launched and partly planned from Pakistani soil, and that the sole surviving attacker was Pakistani.
An Indian court issued arrest warrants late last month for 22 Pakistanis, including Hafiz Saeed, for their role in the conspiracy that led to the assault.
Khawar said Hafiz Saeed would remain free pending the result of the appeal, which he said had nothing to do with the Mumbai assault.
“On the basis of the UN resolution and classified information, the government feel that it’s necessary for the country’s security to keep him under lawful detention,” he said.
JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid said they would fight the case.
“We got justice previously and we hope we’ll win this legal battle too,” Mujahid said.
Hafiz Saeed founded the LeT in 1990, and for years it battled Indian forces in Indian Kashmir region.
