LHC grills govt over official’s absence

Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Farooq Haider grilled the provincial government over the non-appearance of the special secretary for home affairs in the courtroom on a plea challenging the detention of the banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Hafiz Saad Rizvi.

As the proceedings commenced, Justice Haider asked where the special secretary was, at which petitioner’s counsel senior Advocate Burhan Moazzam Malik told the court that he was not present. The representatives of the provincial government replied that he was in a meeting.

It irked Justice Farooq Haider and he remarked that LHC had ordered the special secretory home to appear on the date, so how he could go to attend the meeting without complying with the court order. He ordered the special secretory to appear in court on Tuesday.

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Later, Justice Haider adjourned the case with directions to the representatives of provincial government as well as the petitioner’s counsel to submit whatever material they wanted by the afternoon.

The petitioner had contended that the provincial review board had dismissed a plea of the government to extend the duration of the detention.

He submitted that Rizvi was being kept in detention even though the stipulated duration has ended.

He requested the court to declare it illegal and set aside the order to keep the petitioner in detention.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2021.