Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation moves Delhi HC against ban imposed by Centre

New Delhi: Islamic Research Foundation headed by Zakir Naik on Friday moved the Delhi High Court against immediate ban imposed on the NGO by the Centre.

The HC asked the Union Government to produce relevant record on the next date of hearing to see the material relied upon to immediately ban the organisation.

On November 15, the Central government had banned the IRF for five years after declaring it as an "unlawful association" under the anti-terror laws, and the NIA followed up with raids on its premises in Mumbai on November 19.

According to the Home Ministry, Naik, who heads the IRF, has allegedly made many provocative speeches and engaged in terror propaganda.

Maharashtra Police has also registered criminal cases against Naik for his alleged involvement in radicalisation of youths and luring them into terror activities, officials said.

He came under the scanner of the security agencies after Bangladeshi newspaper 'Daily Star' reported that one of the perpetrators of the July 1 terror attack in Dhaka, Rohan Imtiaz, ran propaganda on Facebook in 2015 quoting Naik.

Since then Naik has not returned to India and has been mostly travelling and preaching in Africa and Middle East, though he addressed the Mumbai media once via teleconference in July.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) lodged a case of suspected money-laundering against Zakir Naik and IRF in December.

The NIA had filed cases against Naik under the UAPA for allegedly promoting enmity between groups on religious and racial grounds, and raided over a dozen offices, residential premises, his Peace TV offices, and other locations, besides freezing a bank account of his NGO.