ISLAMABAD; The Punjab government has challenged before the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) the release of banned Tehreek e Labaik Pakistan (TLP) chief, Saad Rizvi, by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
The punjab government submitted a petition before the apex court on
Monday, claiming LHC’s decision to declared Saad Rizvi’s detention as illegal was devoid of the rule of law.
The LHC had declared Saad Rizvi’s detention illegal on October 1, 2021. This was followed by the deputy commissioner’s orders to set banned TLP’s chief free.
Saad Rizvi had become chief of banned TLP after his father Khadam Hussain Rizvi’s mysterious death. Khadam Hussain Rizvi, founder of TLP and a firy religious cleric, had got fame when he launched a countrywide protest against objectionable caricaturing made by a French cartoonist that had shocked the Muslims across the globe. Khadam Rizvi staged protest at Faizabad , a cross section and entry point of Islamabad. This had paralised the country as the people could not make entry from other cities to Islamabad for days. However, TLP founder died mysteriously during the protest. After Khadam Rizvi’s unexpected death , TLP picked -up his son , Saad Rizvi , as its chief. Saad Rizvi followed his father’s agenda and relaunched protest and like his father made Faizabad, Islamabad’s entry point, as a centre of protest. The government used force and dispursed TLP’s protest. Later, the authorities took Saad Rizvi in custody from Lahore. His arrest followed by delisting of TLP as a political group by the Election Commission of Pakistan . Meanwhile, the government levelled serious allegations against TLP saying ” The banned TLP had links with India and its protest was sponsored by the enemy country.
The government in the same context moved to declare TLP an anti state organisation. In this envirnment, the Punjab government could not afford release of Saad Rizvi. It had no option, but to challenge LHC’s decision before the Supreme Court of Pakistan.