A high court in Pakistan today barred the government from releasing a former top Taliban militant who had surrendered in April this year.
Ehsanullah Ehsan, who was associated with the Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and later its splinter group Jamaat-ul Ahrar (JuA), had voluntarily surrendered to security forces.
A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) headed by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi passed the order on a petition filed by the father of a student who was killed in the December 16 attack on an army public school in Peshawar.
The petitioner had said that the government was planning to give clemency to Ehsan.
The government had said that it was still investigating the former TTP spokesman.
The court asked the government to continue its probe against Ehsan and barred it from releasing him on any ground and keep the court updated about the proceedings.
JuA was behind the horrific attack on Lahore's Mall Road earlier this year in which 13 people were killed and over 100 others injured.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)