Hafiz Saeed case adjourned

LAHORE: After submission of review board report by the federal government, a division bench of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday postponed for a day the hearing of petition challenging the detention of Jamatud Dawa’s chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, his aides Prof Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdur Rehman Abid, Qazi Kashif Hussain, Abdullah Ubaid and others.

On behalf of the federal government, the report of a review board for extension of house arrest of Hafiz Saeed and his aides was submitted. On January 31, the Punjab government had placed Hafiz Saeed and four other party leaders under house arrest after the interior ministry issued a letter. This letter issued to the provincial government on January 29 said that as per the UN Security Council sanctions, the two organisations namely JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), which was the public welfare wing of JuD, both have been put on the watchlist and listed in the second schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The interior ministry on January 27 intimated that JuD and FIF are engaged in activities that could be prejudicial to peace and security, and are in violation of Pakistan’s obligations to the UN Security Council Resolution 1267. A number of JuD and FIF pamphlets have also been made part of the petition, which highlighted the organisations’ volunteer work in different parts of the country, according to the notification putting them under detention.

It has also stated its other philanthropic works, including rescue work in the Mall Road suicide blast. Hafiz Saeed and others had challenged their detention and subsequent extension for another 90 days detention on April 30 beforeLHC.