Lakhvi’s detention: Court issues contempt notices to interior secretary, Okara DCO

Directs them to reply within 10 days.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday summoned the interior secretary and the Okara district coordination officer (DCO) to appear before the court on April 14 in response to a contempt application filed by Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, against a recent order for his detention issued by the Punjab administration.

Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi directed Interior Secretary Shahid Khan and Okara DCO Kaiser Saleem to file replies within 10 days over their failure to comply with court orders and to appear before the bench in the next hearing.

The order came in response to a fresh contempt application filed by Lakhvi’s counsel, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, challenging the fresh orders of the Punjab government.

The court quashed a previous detention order on March 13, 2015, but hours later, the DCO issued a 30-day detention order under maintenance of public order (MPO), which the court observed was against its judgment.

In the order, Justice Qureshi directed the office to forward a copy of the contempt petition to the respondents with directions to file a reply within the given timeframe.

The court on Thursday will take up an application filed by the Federal Investigation Agency challenging the decision of an anti-terrorism court, which had granted bail after arrest to the suspect.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2015.