Chief of the banned organisation Jamatud Dawa, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, and three other Dawa leaders on Saturday challenged their detention in the Lahore High Court (LHC).Saeed, Col (r) Nazeer Ahmad, Abdul Rehman and Ameer Hamza filed a petition in the LHC under Article 199(1bi) of the constitution.
Their counsel, AK Dogar, asked the court to determine if the petitioners were being held in custody according to the law.
He said the detention of the petitioners, ordered by the Home Department on January 9 and again on March 9, was without lawful authority and of no legal effect.
Dogar submitted that Hafiz Saeed had been earlier detained by the government of Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf but was released by the orders of the LHC, adding that there was no on the record allegation against the petitioner or his organisation.
The counsel said the LHC had also observed that Dawa had never been involved in any terrorist activities in Pakistan and no FIR had ever been registered against Dawa or any of its detained members.
He said Dawa was an independent organisation with no links with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.
He requested the court to issue a habeas corpus direction, which would require the respondents to present the petitioners before the LHC.