Days before the anniversary of the 26/11 attack, a judicial body in Pakistan on Wednesday ordered the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest.
A judicial review board, comprising judges of the Lahore High Court, rejected a request from the government of Pakistan's Punjab, to extend Saeed's detention by three months.
"The government is ordered to release JuD chief Hafiz Saeed if he is not wanted in any other case," PTI quoted the board as saying.
Saeed is scheduled to be released on Thursday, reported Reuters.
On Tuesday, the province's home department had informed the judicial body that Saeed's release could lead to imposition of international sanctions on Pakistan.
It also said that the Federal Finance Ministry had "some important evidence" against him to justify detention.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam called the move "befooling."
"This is again befooling by Pakistan. Now, America should notice this matter since it designated Hafiz Saeed as global terrorist," Nikam told Times Now.
Last month, the board had allowed a 30-day extension to his detention, which is set to expire in the last week of this month.
On January 31, Saeed and his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - were detained by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and the Fourth Schedule of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
The last two extensions, however, were made under the 'public safety' law.