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Hafiz Saeed case

LHC seeks reply from Punjab, Centre

Staff Report

LAHORE: Headed by Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday asked the federal and Punjab governments to respond by November 15 to the petition filed by Maimoona Saeed, wife of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, former chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Mrs Saeed is suing the federal and Punjab governments for Rs 1.5 million, Rs 10,000 for every day of the five months her husband was kept in illegal detention. She has filed a contempt notice against the governments for denying Mr Saeed was ever in custody and has asked the court to allow the chief of the Jamaat-ul-Dawa free. He is presently under house arrest.

The court rejected the requests of Saeed lawyers Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal who were seeking an audience with Mr Saeed. It also turned down their appeal seeking permission for Mr Saeed to attend Friday prayers at a mosque opposite his house. The request for monetary compensation was also rejected.

Justice Ahmed has asked the attorney general of Pakistan and the advocate general of the Punjab to appear in court at the next hearing set for Friday.

Mr Saeed and the Lashkar-e-Taiba have been accused of aiding and abetting cross-border infiltration into Indian-administered Kashmir. Mr Saeed was taken into federal custody last December 21 after New Delhi alleged his involvement in the December 13 attack on the Lok Sabha. He was released on March 31 on order of the courts but taken back into custody May 15.

The government has maintained Mr Saeed was never in its custody.

Mrs Saeed in her petition states that the army’s ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) kept her husband in custody and promised his return only if she withdrew her court petition seeking his release. She withdrew the petition on October 21. Mr Saeed was placed under house arrest on October 31.

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