LHC asks Punjab home dept to decide on Lakhvi's detention

Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa presided over the hearing today.

The lawyer of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi argued before the bench that Islamabad High Court (IHC) had declared Lakhvi’s detention unlawful but DCO Okara detained him for one more month which is contempt of the court.

It is pertinent to mention that Lakhvi had submitted a petition in the LHC with two pleas, one against his detention and the other regarding contempt of court against the federal and provincial governments.

The court dismissed his plea regarding contempt of court while ordered the Punjab home secretary to take decision in relation to Lakhvi’s detention in within five days.

Lakhvi was granted bail by an anti-terror court in December 2014, infuriating New Delhi, but quickly slapped with a detention order under the public order laws.

The Islamabad High Court suspended that order, only for the Supreme Court to reinstate it in January 2015.

This month (March 13), the high court once again set aside the detention order. But on the same day DCO Okara had issued his detention orders for further 30 days under the MPO.

Charges against Zaki-ur-Rehman

Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who is accused of the terror siege in India’s commercial capital Mumbai, was granted bail on December 18 by an Anti-Terror Court (ATC) but authorities later detained him under a public order law, which was suspended by the Islamabad High Court on December 29.

The Mumbai attacks left 166 people dead and were blamed on banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). India has long seethed at Pakistan’s failure to hand over or prosecute the accused  planning and organizing terrorist attacks.

Lakhvi and six other suspects have been charged in Pakistan but their cases have made virtually no progress in more than five years.