Terror List: Hafiz Saeed among 139 Pakistanis, Dawood Ibrahim’s address mentioned in Karachi

Hafiz Saeed in his petition argued that barring an organisation or party from indulging in charity work was against the Constitution and that the Pakistan government was interfering because it had bowed down to pressure from India and the US

A day after Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed was named in the United Nations Security Council’s terror list, the Lahore High Court has ordered Pakistani government officials to not “harass” him and allow him to continue his “social welfare activities.”

Saeed, the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, in a petition alleged that the government was interfering in his party’s welfare projects because it had bowed down to pressure from India and the US, Dawn online reported. Saeed is listed as a person wanted by Interpol for his involvement in terrorist activities and terror funding and also carries a bounty of $ 10 million placed by the United States.

The petition argued that barring an organisation or party from indulging in charity work was against the Constitution. Justice Ameenud Din Khan, who heard the petition filed by lawyer A.K. Dogar on Saeed’s behalf, directed the authorities to submit their responses by April 23.

A similar petition was filed by Saeed through Dogar before the same judge in March. That time, Justice Khan had directed the federal and provincial governments to submit their responses by April 27. However, due to the similar nature of both petitions, the court decided to club the cases.

Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan had barred JuD and several other such organisations named in a list of banned outfits by the UN Security Council from collecting donations in the country. The government had also freezed his bank accounts under the Anti-Terrorism (amendment) Ordinance 2018.

The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Saeed had moved the court contending that if there was a conflict between the laws of the land and any provision of the United Nations Security Council Act, 1948, the law of the land shall prevail. Arguing that his organisation Falah-i-Insaaniyat Foundation (FIF) owns 369 ambulances, helped 72,000 persons to charity hospitals and treated 600,000 patients only in 2017, Saeed pleaded the court to declare the impugned notification of the interior ministry null and void with regard to taking over the assets of the organisations.

Saeed, who in November last year was set free from a 300-day-long house arrest, has been declared a global terrorist by the US and UN over his alleged role in the Mumbai attacks. He is all set to join politics and plans to field candidates for all national and provincial assembly seats in the polls through his Milli Muslim League party.