The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday declared as illegal the detention of Saad Hussain Rizvi, chief of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
Hearing a petition filed by Rizvi’s uncle against his continued incarceration Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh announced the verdict after presiding over daily hearings for the past three days.
The detailed judgement in the case is pending.
Saad Rizvi, son of late Khadim Hussain Rizvi was taken into custody in Lahore back in April under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance 1960 for instigating violent protests in all major cities of the country over the matter of the expulsion of the French Ambassador from the country.
During Thursday’s hearing, Advocate Malik argued that Rizvi had not been provided with the reasons for being detained again under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. He said he had submitted five applications to the relevant government department to know the grounds for his detention but hadn’t received a response.
He argued that solid grounds were required to incarcerate a suspect, adding that not a single case existed against Saad Rizvi before the year 2018.
Another lawyer for the petitioner, Advocate Mian Pervez, said the state had issued the notification for Rizvi’s continued detention with mala fide intentions.
Back in July, A review board of the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected on Friday the Punjab Home Department’s request to extend the detention of Saad Hussain Rizvi, leader of proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
The decision was announced in a closed-door hearing by the provincial review board, comprising Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan, Justice Alia Neelum and Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan, on a request by the Punjab Home Department seeking an extension in the TLP chief’s detention.
Rizvi’s detention was supposed to end on July 10 in light of the review board’s decision. However, the deputy commissioner of Lahore issued a fresh notification under Section 11-EEE (Powers to arrest and detain suspected persons) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and detained Rizvi for 90 days.
TLP protests
An agreement had been reached between the TLP and the federal government in November 2020 to decide on the matter of the French Ambassador’s expulsion in three months.
Closer to the deadline, the TLP decided to delay its protest by two and a half months to April 20.
In the meantime, Rizvi had told his workers to prepare for a long march if the government did not keep its word thereby forcing the latter to arrest the former on April 12.
Police had swooped in on Rizvi at around 2pm on Wahdat Road in Lahore where he had gone to attend a funeral. Outraged, the TLP had issued a call for countrywide protests.
The next day, police registered a first information report against the TLP chief under sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Within the next few hours, protesters took to the streets in Lahore and blocked the Grand Trunk Road at a number of points.
The government had subsequently banned the TLP following the violent protests and sit-ins it staged across the country.
