Lahore: A Pakistani court on Saturday constituted a two-member bench to hear a petition filed by JuD chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed challenging two cases registered against him under
the anti-terrorism act for inciting people to wage `jehad` and
inviting donations for the same, and the matter will be take
up on September 28.
Justices Asif Saeed Khosa and Najamuz Zaman will hear the
constitutional petition filed by Saeed on Monday.
Police in Faisalabad city recently registered the two
First Information Reports against Saeed, who has been blamed
by India for masterminding the Mumbai attacks.
In his petition, Saeed has asked the High Court to quash
the two FIRs, which he claimed had been registered due to
pressure on the Pakistan government from India.
Saeed, also the founder of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba,
was placed under house arrest in December last year after the
UN Security Council declared the JuD a terrorist group. He was
freed on the orders of the Lahore High Court in June.
He claimed in his petition that his release on the
direction of the High Court had caused an "uproar in India"
which had pressured the Pakistan government to take action
against him.
Saeed claimed the two FIRs were registered against him on
the charges that he delivered speeches inviting people to
launch a holy war or `jehad` against US, Israel and India
because they "are hatching a conspiracy to wipe out Pakistan`s
nuclear assets."
He argued that the FIRs registered under the
Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 were not valid as the JuD, what he
claimed, is not a banned organisation.
Saeed added that when his case was heard by the Lahore
High Court earlier this year, a government lawyer had failed
to produce any notification issued by the federal government
to ban the JuD.
A K Dogar, Saeed`s counsel, said the petition also seeks
the lifting of the ban imposed on the JuD by the UN Security
Council.
Dogar claimed the world body`s restrictions on the JuD
are "illegal and unlawful."
Bureau Report
