Islamabad, July 5 : Following the Punjab government's decision to challenge the Lahore High Court's (LHC) verdict of releasing the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Muhammad Saeed and Colonel (retired) Nazir Ahmad, both of whom are accused of masterminding the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, now the federal government has also decided to file a separate petition against the verdict.

The Pakistan government is likely to file the petition on Monday, July 6.

"We are filing the appeal because we are not satisfied with the order of the LHC. The federal government's challenge was almost ready, but it could not file the petition on Saturday as the representative of Punjab government was not available on time," The Dawn quoted the Deputy Advocate General, Shah Khawar, as saying.

On June 2, a full bench of the Lahore High Court had ordered Saeed's release from house arrest on the basis of a habeas corpus petition filed by his lawyer.

The high court said that it had not received substantial evidence to continue the detention of Saeed, the prime accused of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The court also ordered the release of another JuD leader Colonel (retired) Nazir Ahmad.

Saeed was put under house arrest on December 11 last year, day after the JuD, the political wing of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was declared a terrorist group by the United Nations (UN). (ANI)