Delhi HC to hear plea against ban on Zakir Naik's NGO

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday will hear a plea against the ban on the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

The IRF, which is headed by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, earlier moved a petition seeking directions against the ban imposed on it by the central government.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva asked ASG Sanjay Jain to produce the relevant records/materials which were relied upon by the Centre with regard to the ban.

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 National Investigation Agency (NIA) followed up with raids on its premises in Mumbai on November 19.

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

The Maharashtra Police have 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 1,2016 terror attack in Dhaka, Rohan Imtiaz, ran propaganda on Facebook in 2015 quoting Naik.