No need to test Ansari case: PMO

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Cabinet today urged the Supreme Court not to test the habeas corpus petition, seeking release of former minister Salim Miya Ansari.Submitting a written affidavit, the PMO urged the Supreme Court not to test the case as the former minister “is being detained after completing legal procedures and is kept in 90-day preventive detention”.“Since he was detained after completing necessary legal process under the Peace and Security Act, 1989, there is no need to intervene by the apex court,” secretary of the PMO, Madhav Paudel, said.The affidavit also claimed that it was not the case to be tested by the Supreme Court, as Ansari was detained under Clause 3(1) of the Act.A single bench of justice Sharada Prasad Pundit had issued the show cause notices to government authorities — the PMO, Home Ministry and Chief District Officer of Kathmanud Thaneshwor Devkota — seeking reasons for Ansari’s arrest. The government had arrested Ansari on the charge of instigating the ongoing Terai unrest.Ansari’s aide, Mahendra Prasad, had filed the petition, challenging his arrest and detention.