Pakistan govt fails to challenge Lakhvi's bail order

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Monday failed to file a plea challenging the bail to Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the key planner of the 2008 Mumbai attack. Meanwhile, Lakhvi filed a petition in the high court against a court’s decision to make a judicial panel’s record a part of evidence in the 26/11 case.
The prosecution, which was supposed to challenge the Islamabad anti-terrorism court’s (ATC) decision to grant bail to Lakhvi in the high court, could not do so as it failed to get a copy of the ATC’s order.
“We are facing problems in getting the ATC’s order copy. I cannot say whether we will be able to file the appeal tomorrow. After going through the court’s order, we need time to prepare the petition,” said prosecution chief Chaudhry Azhar.
ATC Islamabad judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi on December 18 had granted bail to Lakhvi, citing lack of evidence against him. But before the terror accused could be released from jail, the government detained him for three more months under Public Maintenance Order in Adiala Jail, where the trial is being held.
The decision to grant bail to Lakhvi, 54, drew sharp criticism from India and surprised many for its timing, coming just days after Pakistan Taliban massacred 148 people, including 132 schoolchildren, in Peshawar.
Lakhvi’s lawyer, meanwhile, has filed a petition in the high court in Islamabad, challenging a trial court’s decision to make the Pakistan Judicial Commission’s record a part of evidence in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack case.
The Islamabad high court has constituted a two-member bench to hear Lakhvi’s petition.