26/ 11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s JuD no longer a banned outfit in Pak

Presidential ordinance banning Mumbai 26/ 11 attack mastermind’s organisations lapses

Islamabad, Oct. 26: Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed- led Jamaatud- Dawa ( JuD) and Falah- i- Insaniyat Foundation ( FIF) are no longer on the list of banned outfits in Pakistan as the ordinance that proscribed them under a UN resolution has lapsed and the new Imran Khan- led government did not extend it, a media report said on Friday.

In February this year, former president Mamnoon Hussain promulgated an ordinance amending the Anti- Terrorism Act, 1997 to declare JuD and FIF as proscribed groups.

During a hearing on Thursday of a petition filed by Saeed, his counsel informed the Islamabad High Court ( IHC) that the presidential ordinance had lapsed and it had never been extended, Dawn newspaper reported.

The petitioner had challenged the ordinance under which his organisations had been banned for being on the watch list of the UN Security Council.

Saeed contended in the petition that he established JuD in 2002 and cut off all ties with the banned Lashkar- i- Tayyaba ( LeT), but India continued to malign the JuD for its past association with LeT, the report said. The petitioner said he was kept in detention in 2009 and 2017 due to India’s pressure. He said that the UN Security Council had passed a resolution against the JuD after which the government of Pakistan put it on the watch list, it said.

India has been pushing Pakistan to bring to justice the planners of the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Saeed is the co- founder of the LeT, which was responsible for the deadly attack in which 166 people were killed.

Saeed’s counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Sohail Warraich appeared before Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC. On a query, Saeed’s counsel informed the court that the current government did not extend the ordinance or table it in parliament to convert it into an act.

Deputy AG Raja Khalid Mehmood Khan confirmed the ordinance lapsed. He, however, declined the request of advocate Abbasi for giving a statement on behalf of interior ministry about the lapse of the ordinance.

Hafiz Saeed challenged the ordinance under which his organisations had been banned for being on the watch list of the UN Security Council