IHC suspends detention of Mumbai attacks suspect

India ‘outraged’ by bail to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, summons Pakistan’s envoy to lodge protest.

NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended the detention order of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror siege, drawing a sharp protest from India.

Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi granted Lakhvi conditional bail against surety bonds of Rs1 million. Lakhvi will also have to attend hearings at the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), where he and his six alleged accomplices have been facing trial since 2008.

The Mumbai carnage was blamed on the proscribed militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Lakhvi, the commander of LeT, was allegedly involved in planning, financing and executing the November 26, 2008 attacks on Mumbai’s landmarks that had killed over 160 people.

Lakhvi, who remains in custody in the high-security Adiala jail, was granted bail by ATC Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi on December 18 but after protest from India, the authorities ordered his detention under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).



Subsequently, Lakhvi challenged his detention in the IHC. On Monday when the court took up the matter, Lakhvi’s counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi argued that the authorities had detained his client under MPO for 30 days even though the ATC had granted him bail.

He claimed that the administration had flouted the ATC order by not releasing his client. He said his client had been detained under pressure from the Indian government and requested the court annul the detention order.

On the last date of hearing the court had sought a reply from the government on Lakhvi’s detention. On Monday, the government lawyer, Jahangir Khan Jadoon sought more time to submit the reply.

However, Justice Qureshi ruled that the government’s lawyer could not submit the reply and “hence the court has no option but to suspend the detention order”. The hearing was subsequently adjourned till January 15 with the judge directing the government to submit its reply.

According to sources, Lakhvi’s counsel has not submitted the surety bonds. Adiala Jail Superintendent Malik Mushtaq Ahmed Awan said he has not received the court orders.

The paperwork involved in actually getting Lakhvi released means he is unlikely to walk out of prison soon. Nonetheless India reacted angrily to the development calling it a “mockery of fight against terror”.

Indian authorities summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit to the Ministry of External Affairs, where Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh conveyed ‘strong concern’ over the ‘lack of effective action’ by Pakistan’s prosecuting authorities.

She told Basit that India expects Pakistan to abide by the commitment conveyed to New Delhi that expeditious steps would be taken to bring all those responsible for ‘the heinous acts of terrorism’ in Mumbai to justice.

“It is extremely disturbing that despite the assurances we have been receiving over the last six years, and the recent tragedies in Pakistan, there seems to be no end in sight to Pakistan remaining a safe-haven for well-known terror groups,” Singh told Basit.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the bail order was “a shock to all those who believe in humanity world over”.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2014.