LAHORE: The Lahore High Court chief justice has changed the bench hearing the petition filed by Jamaat-ud- Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and four others challenging their house arrest under the anti-terrorism act, a court official said today.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Syed Kazim Raza Shamsi will now hear Saeed's petition.
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah changed the two-member bench headed by Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan. Justice Khan had held the last hearing in the case on February 22.
"The hearing scheduled for March 7 (yesterday) could not be held because of the change of bench," a court official told PTI.
He termed the change of bench in Saeed's case as a "routine matter". The official said the next date of hearing will be fixed by the court by tomorrow.
In the last hearing, the court had served a notice on the Punjab government seeking a reply on Saeed's petition by March 7.
Mumbai attack mastermind Saeed, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid, Qazi Kashif Hussain and Abdullah Ubaid have filed the petition in the Lahore High Court and challenged their detention through senior advocate A K Dogar.
The government on January 30 had put Saeed and the four leaders of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat (FIF) under house arrest in Lahore under the country's anti- terrorism act.
In their petition, Saeed and the four others had said the government in light of interior ministry's order detained them for a period of 90 days, with effect from January 30, in exercise of powers under the Anti Terrorism Act.
They requested the court to declare the government order malafide, without jurisdiction and one that voids the fundamental right to their life and liberty.
The names of Saeed and 37 other JuD and FIF leaders had earlier also been placed on the Exit Control List, barring them from leaving the country.
Earlier, the Lahore High Court had dismissed a petition filed by a senior advocate Erum Sajjad Gull on 'technical' grounds, observing that the petitioner had not furnished the impugned notification of Saeed's detention.
Saeed was also put under house arrest after the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008, but he was freed by a court in 2009.
Saeed also carries a reward of USD 10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities.