Explain Hafiz's JuD, charity wing ban: Court

The Lahore High Court on Friday ordered the Pakistan government to explain why the Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) of 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed were banned and their accounts frozen.

The order came during a petition filed by Saeed through his lawyer A.K. Dogar in which the JuD chief told the court that the Interior Ministry on February 10 had issued a notification to freeze the bank accounts of both organisations and take over assets associated with them under the Anti-Terrorism (amendment) Ordinance of 2018.

Saeed alleged that "the government of Pakistan had acted under the pressure of foreign powers, including the US and India", Dawn online reported.

The founder of Lashkara-e-Taiba (LeT) added that "if there was a conflict between the laws of the land and any provision of the UN Security Council Act, 1948, the law of the land shall prevail".

Saeed in his petition had asked the court to declare the impugned notification of the Interior Ministry null and void with regard to taking over the assets of the organisations, according to the Dawn.

In May 2008, the US Department of the Treasury named Saeed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. He was also individually designated by the UN in December 2008 following the Mumbai attack in which 166 Indians and foreigners were killed.

Pakistani authorities released him from house arrest in November last year due to "lack of evidence", much to Washington's frustration. He had been under house arrest since January 2017.

--IANS

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