LHC disposes of petition seeking Saad’s release

LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition seeking the release of Saad Rizvi, leader of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, on the basis of withdrawal.

Saad Rizvi had been arrested in April and is still in custody. On Thursday, Saad Rizvi's uncle's lawyer Burhan Moazzam told the bench headed by Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti that "there were not two opinions that the instant petition has become ineffective". Additional Advocate General Akhtar Javed also supported the view.

At this, the bench disposed of the petition for being infructuous and observed that the petitioner could approach the court again if he feels aggrieved by any new order of the government. The Supreme Court had suspended the operation of an LHC single bench’s order whereby the detention of Rizvi was annulled and remanded the case for a fresh decision by a division bench. Previously, the government had withdrawn its reference before the Federal Review Board when it failed to justify the detention of Rizvi despite an order passed by the LHC single bench. The single bench had on October 1 set aside the second detention of Rizvi notified by the government under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. The first detention of Rizvi had come under the MPO after his organisation staged violent protests across the country in April, demanding that the government expel the ambassador of France in the wake of blasphemous caricatures.

According to Punjab Advocate General Ahmed Awais, despite the withdrawal of the petition pertaining to Rizvi’s detention, he would not be released. He said two weeks ago, the Supreme Court had set aside the decision of the LHC single bench regarding the release of Saad Rizvi. So, after withdrawing the petition from the LHC, the decision of the SC had attained finality.

The AGP added that the meeting of the Federal Review Board regarding the detention of Saad Rizvi is being held on November 6 in Lahore. Supreme Court Judge Justice Maqbool Baqir is the head of the board, while one judge each from the Lahore High Court and the Peshawar High Court are members of the board. The last meeting of the Federal Review Board was adjourned due to TLP riots in Lahore.