LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday set aside the detention of Azad Kashmir Assembly member Ghulam Mohiuddin Dewan, belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, and ordered his release.

Justice Asjad Javed Ghural heard a petition filed by Mr Dewan’s wife, Saba Dewan, challenging her husband’s detention.

The judge expressed displeasure over the government’s stance on the detention and declared it null and void.

The petitioner said that Mr Dewan was a member of the Azad Kashmir Assembly and a law-abiding citizen and the government detained him in clear violation of Article 9 of the Constitution.

She said the detention was politically motivated and the deputy commissioner’s (DC’s) order was illegal.

The petitioner asked the court to set aside the detention of Mr Dewan and order his immediate release.

As per media reports, Mr Dewan was taken into custody on his return from Lahore after attending an Eid Milad conference held by Minhajul Quran leader Dr Tahirul Qadri at Minar-i-Pakistan.

Meanwhile, several petitions have been filed in the Lahore High Court challenging the arrest of PTI social media activist Sanam Javed’s father and 49 other workers.

The petitions asked the court to take action against the ‘unlawful’ arrests and issue release orders for the PTI members.

Justice Farooq Haider held the initial hearing and referred the petitions to the chief justice with a request to fix them before another bench seized with identical matter.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2024