The Lahore High Court on Friday declared the detention of Saad Rizvi, chief of the proscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), illegal.

Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh announced brief verdict of the case on Friday after three consecutive days of hearing of the petition. The detailed verdict of the case is yet to be announced.

Saad's uncle, Ameer Hussain, filed the petition in the court against his continued incarceration.

Advocate Burhan Moazzam Malik argued on behalf of the petitioner while lawyers for the Punjab and federal governments opposed the plea.

Saad, son of late Khadim Hussain Rizvi, was taken into custody on April 12 under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance 1960 over the charges that he had incited his followers to take the law into their hands when the government refused to expel the French ambassador following the republication of cartoons in France deemed as blasphemous.

The proscribed TLP was pressing the federal government to expel the ambassador over publication of blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) whereas France's president Emanuel Macron defended the right of the press to publish the cartoons.

Protests turned violent in April when Rizvi was arrested. At least six officers were killed in Lahore while 11 were held hostage for several hours at a mosque. The TLP claimed several of its supporters died in clashes.

Saad has been in detention since.

Saad was named head of the TLP in November 2020 after his father passed away.

His lawyer advocate Malik argued that his client had not been told why he was being detained again under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 despite submitting five applications demanding to know the grounds for his detention. He hadn't received a response.

He further noted that after Saad's arrest the authorities were not willing to lodge a first information report (FIR) against the killing of the TLP workers in the protest staged against the party's chief detention.

The lawyer argued that currently 24 cases were registered against Saad and the government could keep him in detention "endlessly" by obtaining a 90-day remand in each case.

He also raised a question that the government had the option of physical remand but Saad was being kept in detention.

The defence lawyer, Deputy Attorney General Asad Bajwa, told the court that Saad had been detained on July 9 under the Anti-Terrorism Act on the charge of spreading sectarianism.

Talking about the verdict, Aaj's Lahore Bureau Chief Saleem Shaikh said the rejection of government's appeal in the case could be based on flaws in legal procedure around the TLP leader's detention.

"The government initiated everything in haste as the Lahore deputy commissioner detained Saad first and the Home Department later approved the TLP chief's detention," he said, adding the federal cabinet also approved Saad's detention after he had been taken into custody.

Shaikh also highlighted the court, in its brief verdict, has not issued orders to release the TLP chief.

Saad's detention, TLP protest

The government and the TLP, after staging protest in the capital for the expulsion of the French envoy. reached an agreement in November 2020 to involve the parliament against the matter and decide the issue in three months.

Within the agreed time, the government failed to consult lawmakers on the issue and sought more time for consultation. The TLP postponed the protest by two-and-a-half months till April 20.

Before the deadline approached, Saad in a video message asked his followers to stage protest, if the government failed to uphold the promise.

Taking action on the TLP chief's message, the government arrested Saad on April 12.

Meanwhile, the party issued a call for countrywide protests.

Very next day after the detention of Saad, the police registered an FIR against the TLP chief under sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Reacting on the government's move, the party's followers took to the streets in Lahore and blocked the Grand Trunk Road at a number of points.

Following the violent demonstrations and sit-ins by the party across the country, the government banned the TLP.