Attorney general Choudhury Mohammad Farooq conveyed this today to the supreme court which had yesterday pulled up the Nawaz Sharif government for keeping him under detention since May 8 without filing any official complaint. Authorities had planned to try Sethi for alleged anti-State activities.

The sudden capitulation by the government came after it secured Sethi's transfer from the ISI's custody to police remand for seven days from a special anti-terrorist court in Rawalpindi yesterday.

During the hearing on the Friday Times editor's bail plea, the AG informed the apex court that although Sethi was being released the government reserved the right to proceed against him afresh.

Subsequently, the court disposed of an interimbail application filed by Sethi's wife Jugnu Mohsin.

Mohsin and her lawyer, however, expressed apprehension that the government may start some new cases against Sethi.

Sethi was arrested from his Lahore residence a few days after he delivered a speech critical of the Pakistani government at a seminar in New Delhi at which former Indian Prime Minister I K Gujral and Pakistani High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi were also present.

Qazi had sent a report to his government describing Sethi's speech on Indian soil as ``treacherous'' prompting the government to arrest him.

Disposing of the bail plea, the three-member bench, headed by chief justice designate Saeduzzaman Siddiqui, however, said it would continue hearing another application by Mohsin asking the court to delineate the ISI's jurisdiction and its status vis-a-vis civilian courts.

The AG also placed before the court a secret ISI report on Sethi for the ``eyes of the court only.''

Refuting Mohsin's lawyer's argument that the government maybe seeking more time to initiate other cases against him, the AG said that the government could not be stopped from proceeding against any person.

Reacting to the court's judgment, an elated Mohsin, who is also a journalist, said the order ``is a victory for the independent press in Pakistan.... the whole of Pakistan knew that Najam was innocent.''

Following Mohsin's petition asking the court to decide the ISI's competence to arrest a person, the government had earlier decided to try Sethi for his alleged anti-State activities not under the army act but under ordinary laws of the court.

Mohsin has denied the government's charges against her husband and alleged that Sethi was arrested for giving an interview to a BBC crew making a documentary on the alleged corruption charges against Sharif's family.