Will Lakhvi be detained again? 26/ 11 mastermind's release challanged in SC

In an attempt to show that Pakistan government is serious to convict 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, it has appealed against the court's judgment to release him.

Reportedly, the judgment to release Lakhvi has been challenged in the Supreme court.In a petition the Punjab government has requested the court to detain Lakhvi again.

On Saturday, 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi walked free from Adiala jail in Pakistan. Lakhvi was released after a Pakistani Court had ordered that Lakhvi must be released from prison and his detention was an illegal act.
India along with many other countries including US and Israel had protested against the release.

Pak puts onus on India

Earlier after outrage over the release, Pak government blamed India of not cooperating on the matter. Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Alam had said that "inordinate delay in extending cooperation by India complicated the case and weakened the prosecution".

Political parties in India Pakistan unanimously for not doing enough to convict Lakhvi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that no country should provide shelter to terrorists but punish them.

Lakhvi- 26/11 mass murderer

Lakhvi is among the seven people charged with planning and helping carry out the 2008 Mumbai attack that left 166 people dead. The six other men facing trial for their alleged involvement are Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid.

Why bail was given?

Justice Anwarul Haq directed the government's counsel to submit records of the information to the court, which was also presented in the Islamabad High Court in the past, based on which the Islamabad High Court ordered Lakhvi's bail.

The Lahore High Court upheld the stance that if this sensitive information was reliable, the Islamabad High Court would not have accepted Lakhvi's bail.

Therefore, the Lahore High Court ordered Lakhvi's release based on the lack of reliability of the sensitive information provided and directed Lakhvi to pay Pakistani Rs.20 lakh (around $2,000) in surety bonds to the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi where he is lodged. It was the second time within a month, when Pakistani courts dismissed the detention orders of Lakhvi.

After the Islamabad High Court last month declared the detention orders of Lakhvi as illegal and ordered his immediate release, India had summoned the Pakistani envoy in New Delhi to convey its outrage.

India had also taken strong exception to the bail granted to Lakhvi last year, days after the December 16 terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.

At the time of the Mumbai atttack, Lakhvi was believed to be the operational head of the banned Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT), accused by India of carrying out the attacks in the country's financial capital.

OneIndia News

(with inputs from agency)