Date:05/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/05/stories/2009070556840100.htm

Front Page

Plea against release of Saeed to be filed tomorrow

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: The government petition against the release of Hafiz Saeed is now to be filed in the Supreme Court on Monday as the legal officials who were to submit it on Saturday arrived at the court only after it closed for the day.

Two identical petitions, one from the federal government and another from the Punjab provincial government, are to be filed pleading for leave to appeal against the Lahore High Court order releasing Mr. Saeed, who is the leader of the Jamat-ud-Dawah and founder of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the Mumbai terrorist attack.

The legal officials from the Punjab Advocate-General’s office who were to file the provincial government’s petition arrived from Lahore only after closing time.

The two petitions will be handed in together on Monday.

According to the draft petition seen by The Hindu, the government will argue that the Lahore High Court did not consider the “sensitivity” of the case in the context of the prevailing situation of “combat against internal and external terrorism” that Pakistan faces, and has ignored the “true import” of the U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The petition argues that the Lahore High Court placed too much emphasis on evidence against Mr. Saeed.