Updated on Saturday, July 04, 2009, 16:48 IST

Islamabad, July 04: Pakistani authorities on Saturday filed two petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the release from detention of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, wanted by India in connection with 26/11 attacks, citing "sufficient evidence" of his group's links with terror outfits.

The two petitions were submitted by the federal government and the government of Punjab province in the apex court this afternoon.

However, sources said the office of the apex court's registrar had not "numbered" the petitions -- a requirement for the matter to be taken up by a bench. The "numbering" is expected to be done on Monday, they said.

The petitions said the government had "sufficient evidence" of the JuD's links with terrorist groups and that Saeed needed to be detained in view of the security situation in the country, official sources said.

The petitions also noted that the United Nations Security Council had declared the JuD a terror group and imposed restrictions on it, they added.

Observers said the government appeared to be acting with an eye on the upcoming meetings between the Foreign Secretaries and Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt later this month.

The move came a day after confusion over efforts by Pakistani authorities to challenge the June 2 order of the Lahore High Court that had freed Saeed and his close aide Col (retired) Nazir Ahmed from house arrest.

Rana Sanaullah, the Law Minister of Punjab, said yesterday that the appeal against Saeed's release had been filed while Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit had said no appeal had been filed yet.

The Lahore High Court had freed Saeed and Ahmed saying the government had not been able to provide evidence of their involvement in terrorist activities.

It also pointed out that the restrictions imposed by the UN Security Council on the JuD did not require the detention of the two leaders.

Saeed and Ahmed had been detained by the home department of Punjab in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance in December last year.

India had expressed concern at the delay by Pakistani authorities in appealing against the release of Saeed. On June 23, a special court in Mumbai issued warrants for the arrest of Saeed and 21 others for alleged involvement in planning and executing the Mumbai attacks.

Bureau Report