BUSINESSMAN Dominic Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve, will remain behind bars after a High Court judge on Tuesday dismissed their bid to be released from custody, ruling that the Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs) issued against them during the State of Emergency (SoE) were lawful.

In a 24-page judgment, Justice Frank Seepersad rejected the couple's habeas corpus application but stressed that emergency powers do not place the Executive beyond the reach of the courts.

"A State of Emergency cannot eclipse the rule of law," the judge said, adding that the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court "endures throughout a State of Emergency."