Lahore: Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed is expected to walk free in two days after a Pakistani judicial body on Wednesday ordered his release from house arrest, in a setback to India's efforts to bring to justice the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Saeed, who carries a bounty of $10 million announced by the US for his role in terror activities, has been under detention since January.

Rejecting the Pakistan government's plea to extend his detention by another three months, the judicial review board of Punjab province, which has judges of Lahore High Court, ordered Saeed's release on the expiry of his 30-day house arrest in a couple of days.

"The government is ordered to release JuD chief Hafiz Saeed if he is not wanted in any other case," the board said.

Saeed may walk free in two days if the government does not detain him in any other case.

"The review board of Lahore High Court asked the Punjab government to produce evidence against Hafiz Saeed for keeping him detained but the government failed," Saeed's lawyer A.K. Dogar told Reuters. "The court said there was nothing against Saeed, therefore he should be released."

A spokesperson for India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"The leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Hafiz Saeed's... internment is over," Nadeem Awan, a media manager for the JuD, wrote on Facebook after the court order.

Before the board's decision, a federal finance ministry official appeared before it and submitted "some important evidence" against Saeed to justify his detention. The board, however, was not convinced.

Earlier, the home department of the Punjab government had told the board that Pakistan might face sanctions from the international community if Saeed was released.

India has repeatedly urged Pakistan to re-investigate the Mumbai terror attack case and also demanded the trial of Saeed and Lashkar-e-Toiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi in the light of evidence it provided to Islamabad.

Last month, the board had allowed a 30-day extension of Saeed's detention.

A source in the Punjab government, however, told PTI that Saeed might not walk free as the government was planning to detain him in another case.

"The government cannot afford to set Saeed free in the current circumstance. It cannot face international backlash in the event of releasing the JuD chief," the source said.

On January 31, Saeed and his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - were taken into preventive detention by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. However, the last two extensions had been made under the "public safety law".

The four aides were set free in the last week of October as the board refused to extend their detention.

Separately, Lahore High Court on Wednesday heard Saeed's petition challenging his detention and adjourned the proceedings toll December 6.

The JuD is believed to be the frontal organisation of the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba, which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

PTI and Reuters