Updated on
Summary
Dismissing a government appeal, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision to release Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the alldged mastermind of 2008 Mumbai assault. The government and a provincial government had challenged the release of Saeed by a high court last year. But the Supreme Court quashed the appeals, saying the government had failed to provide sufficient evidence against Saeed. The appeals are dismissed, Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, head of a three-member panel, said while announcing the decision. A. K. Dogar, a defense lawyer, said the court ruled Tuesday that the government had failed to produce any evidence that Saeed played a role in the attack that killed 166 people. Dogar said the court found that there was no evidence linking Saeed to any terror groups. Pakistan detained Saeed in December 2008 after a UN Security Council resolution to put him and a charity he heads on a list of people and organisations supporting al Qaeda. But the high court in Lahore released him last year on the grounds of insufficient evidence, prompting the government to appeal to the Supreme Court for his re-arrest.
