Detention of TLP leaders challenged

ISLAMABAD: The detention of Tehrik-e-labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi, his son Saad and TLP patronin-chief Pir Afzal Qadri has been challenged before the Lahore High Court (LHC).

Syed Zafar Hussain Gillani, a member of the TLP, assailed the detention of his leaders in a habeas corpus petition iled through Advocate Nabeel Javed Kahloon.

He contended that the police raided the houses of the TLP leaders, arrested them unlawfully and shifted them to undisclosed places. He stated that the Punjab home department and the police, despite repeated requests, have not issued any grounds for detention of the leaders nor their whereabouts.

The petitioner submitted that no FIR or complaint has been lodged against the TLP leaders so far. He argued that the detainees have been arrested without any prior notiication and without giving any opportunity of hearing, which is a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

He pleaded that Article 10 of the Constitution clearly states that no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed of the grounds of arrest, nor shall be denied the right to consult a legal adviser. He expressed apprehensions that the government authorities would physically torture the TLP leaders during their illegal detention.

The detainees have been arrested for varying periods ranging from one month to three months. They were taken into custody in a crackdown as the TLP threatened to jam the country.