ATC seeks information about inclusion of Aurangzeb Farooqi in Fourth Schedule

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday asked the Sindh home department the current status of Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi, the chief of the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), on the Fourth Schedule.

Farooqi was booked by police earlier this year for violating his placement on the list and moving to Punjab from Karachi without seeking prior approval from the authorities.

The FIR was lodged under the Section IIEE (4) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) at the Shah Latif Police Station on behalf of the state. However, police later submitted an A-class report in the ATC-XII stating that they could not find any evidence against him.

Examining the A-class report, the ATC ordered the investigation officer of the case to obtain a fresh document from the provincial home department about the status of Farooqi – whether he was still on the list or removed from it.

As part of streamlining the record of suspects on a watch list under the ATA, a provincial committee had recommended a list of 118 individuals associated with different sectarian and proscribed outfits to re-notify them under the Fourth Schedule in 2017.

The Fourth Schedule is a list of proscribed individuals who are suspected to be involved in terrorism and/or sectarianism under the Section 11EE of the ATA, which states that whenever the government receives information that an individual is associated with an organisation kept under observation, it may recommend the person’s name for the Fourth Schedule. The name of a suspect is usually placed on the Fourth Schedule for three years, but its placement can be extended if needed.