The Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday adjourned indefinitely the hearing of petitions challenging the release from detention of banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, accused by India of being the mastermind in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The development has further frustrated India, as New Delhi maintained that there was enough evidence to punish Saeed, founder of the Lashar-e-Toiba, in connection with the 26/11 attacks.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Monday that “it certainly is a test of patience for India”. “If they (Pakistan) have the willingness, basic conviction then they should go after those who engineered the heinous attacks on India, on Mumbai. Whatever we have provided, according to our assessment, that is evidence enough to punish them and Saeed is one of those who is the main brain behind the attacks,” Krishna told reporters in Delhi.

The Hafiz Saeed trial was affected due to the Pakistan Supreme Court’s judgment on July 31, which declared the emergency declared by previous president Pervez Musharraf as “illegal and unconstitutional”. The Punjab government counsel quit on Sunday since he was appointed after the emergency rules were relaxed and the age bar reduced from 45 to 40. The Punjab counsel, who was to argue the case in the Hafiz Saeed trial, was aged 43.

Due to this procedural problem, Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary’s court, which was to hear two petitions against Saeed’s release by the Lahore High Court, was adjourned indefinitely — as a result of a situation arising from the July 31 judgment.

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