The Punjab government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that if the federal government provides it with fresh evidence against Jamaatud Dawa (JD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, it could take back its application for the withdrawal of their petition.Appearing on notice, Punjab Advocate General Raza Farooq told this to a three-member bench of the SC, consisting of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, which was hearing pleas against a Lahore High Court (LHC) decision ordering the release of Saeed and aide Col (r) Nazir Ahmed from house arrest.
The federal and the Punjab governments had filed separate appeals in the SC against the LHC order of June 2, 2009, that freed Saeed and Nazir from house arrest.
However, the Punjab government later filed an application in the SC, withdrawing its plea, saying that Saeed and Nazir had been placed under house arrest on the directives of the federal government and that it later failed to provide sufficient evidence to maintain the arrest.