KARACHI    -  The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday set aside the provincial government's detention orders for four men set free around eight months ago by the court itself in the abduction and murder case of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

However, the court ordered putting their names on Exit Control List (ECL). They were also directed to appear before the court whenever summoned.

The bench pronounced the order after hearing lengthy arguments from both sides and observed that the Sindh government had failed to produce justified reasons for the continuous detention of the petitioners including, Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil. They had moved the court through their counsel against their continuous detention since their release order in April.

During Thursday’s hearing, a two-judge bench presided over by Justice K K Agha directed security agencies not to keep Sheikh and other accused under "any sort of detention" and declared all notifications of the Sindh government related to their detention "null and void." 

After their acquittal by the high court in April, the provincial government had placed them under 90-day detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.