The 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi’s release from prison has been challenged in Pakistan’s Supreme Court. In its petition, the Punjab government has said that Lakhvi should again be placed in detention.
Lakhvi was released on Saturday after six years in jail, after a court declared his detention illegal.
The Islamabad High Court on Monday set a two-month deadline for the trial court to conclude the 2008 Mumbai attack case, warning that it would accede to Pakistan government’s plea to cancel the bail granted to LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi if it failed to do so.
A two-member bench of IHC headed by Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi gave the “two-month deadline” to the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court to conclude the case against Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi and six others going on since 2009.
The bench was hearing the government’s plea for cancellation of 55-year-old Lakhvi’s bail.
Lakhvi’s Bail Will Be Cancelled
Prosecution chief Chaudhry Azhar said after the hearing here that the judge also said in his order that the court would cancel Lakhvi’s bail if there was a delay on the part of his lawyers.
The court is pending this case for a period of two months till the conclusion of the Mumbai case. If it is reported that the Mumbai case could not be concluded (in two months) because of delaying tactics of the defence lawyers this court will cancel Lakhvi’s bail.
– Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi
26/11 Mastermind’s Release
On April 10, Lakhvi was released from the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after the Lahore High Court suspended his detention under a security act.
India lodged a strong protest over the release, saying the “negative development” reinforced the perception that Pakistan has a dual policy on dealing with terrorists.
2008 Mumbai Attacks
Lakhvi was arrested in December 2008 and was indicted on November 25, 2009 in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks. He and six others – Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum have been charged with planning and executing the Mumbai attack in November, 2008 that left 166 people dead.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)