LAHORE: A review board of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday issued its detailed verdict in a case related to the detention of proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Saad Hussain Rizvi, Dawn News reported.
According to the report, the three-member board led by Justice Malik Shehzad observed that, if Saad is not required to the government in any other case, he should be “released forthwith”.
“The law officer or representatives of the government who appeared before the board did not produce any evidence that detenu was in contact with any person in the outside world during his detention,” the order read, adding that the government had presented one side of its claim regarding law and order which showed its malice.
The order further said, “We have noted the government of Punjab has concealed material facts in its reference because the number of police officers martyred or injured during the incident in question [has] been mentioned in it, but the number of TLP activists or a number of persons from the public who died during the relevant period [has] not been mentioned in the reference.”
It stated that political parties like the PPP, PML-N and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had also held protest demonstrations in the past, but none of them were banned nor were their party leaders detained.
The board quoted the government as complaining that Saad sought the expulsion of the French ambassador from Pakistan, however, it said various parliamentarians did not face any proceedings for raising similar clamour.
It said the failure of police to not incorporate Saad’s arrest in the cases filed against the TLP leader reflected their “dishonesty”.
It added that the government only wanted an extension in Saad’s detention on the basis of “fears”, while no supporting evidence was furnished to support this claim.
Saad, son of the late Khadim Hussain Rizvi, was taken into custody on April 12 over charges that he had incited his followers to take the law into their own hands as, according to him, the government had reneged on its promise to expel the French ambassador.
