“But at no point was the government able to provide any actual evidence for these charges, despite the court giving it many chances to do so,” Mr. Awan said.

“The review board has now rescinded the detention order,” said Mr. Saeed’s lawyer, Abdullah Khan Dogar. “The government of Punjab is now bound to release Hafiz Saeed. They no longer have any right to keep him in custody.”

A Punjab government spokesman confirmed that the government was releasing Mr. Saeed, “though our concerns about his activities are far from resolved.”

His latest stint under house arrest was not the first for Mr. Saeed, though he has repeatedly avoided long-term detention or serious legal charges. He was placed under detention at least twice after the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

For decades, Pakistan has cast a benign eye on groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba — which is perceived as an asset because its attacks target Indian soldiers in Kashmir — even as the government battles jihadist groups like the Pakistani Taliban that directly threaten the country.

But despite its pressure on Pakistan to move against militants like Mr. Saeed, the United States has also sent mixed messages.

Just a month ago, the United States Senate struck down a provision tying American government funding to Pakistan to the country’s efforts to curb Lashkar-e-Taiba’s operations. The provision, part of broader Pentagon-funding legislation that Congress introduced this past summer, would have forced the secretary of defense to certify that Islamabad was thwarting Lashkar-e-Taiba’s activities inside Pakistan or risk $350 million in American assistance.