Lahore: A Pakistani court today ordered the federal and the Punjab governments not to arrest or place under house arrest JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, until further orders.

Saeed had on January 23 moved the court seeking protection from his possible arrest or house arrest by the governments, under the alleged pressure from the US and India.

Lahore High Court Judge Ameenuddin Khan today directed the governments not to arrest or put Saeed under house arrest till further orders, DawnNews reported. The judge also expressed his displeasure over the failure of the governments in filing their replies on Saeed’s allegations. The court granted them time till April 4 to file their replies.

The US has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and it, since 2012, has offered a $10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. Saeed had moved the court fearing action against him and his organisations — JuD and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation — by the governments ahead of the visit of the UN monitoring team. PTI