A file photo of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. PHOTO: AFP
Lakhvi, the commander of proscribed militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was allegedly involved in planning and executing the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks that had killed over 160 people.
Justice Noorul Haque heard the petition challenging Lakhvi’s illegal detention and issued notices to the authorities seeking a reply from them by March 5, 2015.
Lakhvi’s lawyer Rizwan Abbasi said the court had thrice issued notice in this matter.
The local administration had detained Lakhvi under section 3 of the MPO immediately after he was granted post-arrest bail by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on December 18, 2014.
“The basic objective of extending detention orders is to stop Lakhvi from attending any public meeting or potentially regrouping his [banned outfit],” said an ICT official.
On Saturday reports alleged that Lakhvi lives a life of ‘luxury’ in Adiala jail, Rawalpindi.
With lax laws for the suspect in place, the alleged Mumbai attack mastermind and his six comrades have several rooms at their disposal next to the jailer’s office, BBC reported.
But their luxuries in prison don’t end there. In what may seem unthinkable for most prisons and suspects, Lakhvi and his comrades have been granted access to a television, mobile phones, internet and dozens of visitors a day.
Read: Mumbai attacks 'mastermind': Lakhvi lives a life of luxury in Adiala jail
Earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) sought a compliance report from Adiala Jail officials after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) challenged the granting of post-arrest bail to Lakhvi.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui heard an application filed by FIA Special Prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar and later sought a compliance report from jail authorities by January 26.
Read: FIA challenges Lakhvi's bail in IHC
On March 1, a judicial magistrate also deferred Lakhvi’s indictment in a six-year-old kidnapping case after he failed to appear owing to security reasons.
Read: No-show: Lakhvi to now be indicted on March 7
In December last year, the Golra police had registered a case against Lakhvi for allegedly kidnapping Anwar Khan, a resident of the capital’s outskirts. The case was registered in response to a complaint filed by Muhammad Dawood, Khan’s relative.
Lakhvi was to be indicted on February 28, however, because the accused could not appear before court due to security reasons, his indictment was deferred till March 7, said special prosecutor Amir Nadeem Tabish. The court had granted him bail on January 9.
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