SC dismisses govt’s appeals against Hafiz Saeed’s release
26 May, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and dismissed the appeals of the government against the release of Jamaatud Daawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Nasir-ul Mulk, and comprising Justice Jawad S Khwaja and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jafferi, heard appeals of the federal government, challenging the release of Hafiz Saeed by the LHC. The court dismissed the appeals after observing flaw in the government’s stance, ruling that it had failed to provide sufficient evidence against Hafiz Saeed. The federal government and the Punjab government had challenged the release of the JuD chief in the LHC last year. AK Dogar, the counsel for Hafiz Saeed, said the court ruled that the government had failed to produce any evidence that the JuD chief had played a role in the attack that killed 166 people. The counsel said the court found that there was no evidence linking his client to any terror groups. The government had detained Hafiz Saeed in December 2008 after a UN Security Council resolution to put him and a charity he heads on the list of people and organisations supporting al-Qaeda. On June 3, 2009, a LHC three-member bench ordered the release of Hafiz Saeed and Col (retd) Nazir Ahmad after accepting a habeas corpus writ petition. The LHC observed that the respondents failed to produce sufficient material against the detenue. Later, the federal government moved the Supreme Court against the release of Hafiz Saeed. End.
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