ISLAMABAD - The counsel of main accused of Mumbai attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has written a letter to Secretary Interior Shahid Ullah Khan that one month orders of detention of his client should be immediately withdrawn otherwise contempt of court application would be moved against the federal government.
Judge of Anti-terrorism Court of Islamabad Kausar Abbas Zaidi had granted bail to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi in Mumbai attack case on December 18 on the assurance of deposit of two security bonds of 0.5 million rupees each. The decision of bail had drawn criticism from the Indian government over Pakistani authorities.
The federal government had immediately detained Lakhvi under section 16 of Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance for a month and district magistrate Islamabad had issued orders from his office.
Rizwan Abbasi, Counsel of Lakhvi, in his letter written to secretary interior has raised legal points and said that detention of his client was a clear case of contempt of court. In his points, he said that the court had ordered release of Lakhvi and even release orders had been issued but without releasing him, he was detained in the jail.
He in the letter said that if the detention orders of his client were not withdrawn within two days, he would move a contempt of court application before the ATC Islamabad. He alleged that the detention orders were issued under the pressure of Indian authorities and were violation of rights of a Pakistani citizen.
At a time when the government is finalising the action plan against counter terrorism after Peshawar carnage, it is facing difficulties to detain the chief of banned Lashker-e-Jhangvi Malik Ishaq after Lahore High Court rejected the application of Punjab government to detain him for another three months. His detention period is ending today.

GOVT TO CHALLENGE BAIL

AFP adds: A government prosecutor said Wednesday he would file a petition next week challenging an order granting bail to the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.
A judge in an Islamabad anti-terror court last week granted bail to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, accused over the siege in India’s commercial capital that left 166 people dead.
The bail decision triggered a furious response from New Delhi and Pakistani prosecutors swiftly announced they would appeal against it.
“We will file a petition in Islamabad High Court next week,” prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry told AFP.
Azhar had originally planned to file the appeal on Monday, but had to delay it as he had not received a written copy of the bail ruling.
Relations between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India worsened dramatically after the Mumbai carnage, in which 10 gunmen attacked luxury hotels, a popular cafe, a train station and a Jewish centre.
Lakhvi remains in custody in the high-security Adyala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi after the authorities ordered his detention under public order laws following the bail decision.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told lawmakers last week that the bail order came “as a shock to all those who believe in humanity world over”.