Succumbing to global pressure over the release of banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, allegedly linked to the 26/11 attacks, Pakistani authorities on Wednesday said they would appeal against a court's order to free him from detention.
"Yes we will move the court either on Thursday or Friday against the Lahore High Court's decision to free Hafiz Saeed and his aide Col (retired) Nazir Ahmed," Rana Sanuallah, Law
Minister of Punjab province, told PTI.
"Though it was a court decision, it really landed us in hot water as it provided India a chance to unleash propaganda against Pakistan," he said.
Saeed and various other top JuD leaders were detained in December last year after the UN Security Council designated his group as a front for the banned LeT, blamed for the Mumbai terror strikes.
A senior official said the government was placed in a Catch 22 situation over the High Court's order to free Saeed.
"The court had made it clear that the government should either present declassified evidence against Saeed or it was going to free him owing to lack of evidence against him," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The government was not in a position to share the secret information with the court," he added.
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