Lahore,
The Lahore High Court on Thursday ordered government authorities to not “harass” banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and allow him to continue his “social welfare activities” until April 23, the next date of hearing, Dawn online reported.

Saeed alleged in a petition that the government was interfering in his party’s welfare projects because it had bowed down to pressure from India and the US.

The court allowed the Mumbai attack mastermind’s two organisations — Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation to work under the ambit of law.

Justice Ameenuddin Khan of the Lahore High Court issued a notice to the interior ministry to file its reply on April 23 on the petition of Saeed challenging a government’s notification to ban social welfare activities of his JuD and FIF and freezing of their accounts.

A court official, however, told PTI after the hearing: “The LHC today allowed Saeed’s JuD and FIF to work under the ambit of law but did not lift the government’s ban on their social welfare activities.”

“The two organisations will have to work according to the law after imposition of ban on them by the government,” he said, adding the court would hold next hearing on April 23.

Saeed’s counsel Advocate A K Dogar requested the court for a full bench hearing since this case is of “sensitive nature”.

Justice Khan responded that the decision to constitute a full bench will be made in the next hearing.

Dogar told the court that the interior ministry on February 10 issued a notification with regard to freezing bank accounts and taking over assets associated with JuD and FIF under the Anti-Terrorism (amendment) Ordinance 2018.

“The government of Pakistan acted under the pressure of foreign powers, including United Nations and India. Pakistan is a sovereign independent state and makes its own laws to govern its citizens. If there is a conflict between the laws of the land and any provision of United Nations Security Council Act, 1948, the law of the land shall prevail,” he said.

Dogar argued the FIF owns 369 ambulances, helped 72,000 persons to charity hospitals and treated 600,000 patients only in 2017. “JuD dug out 2,000 wells for supplying water in Tharparkar, Baluchistan and Balochistan,” he said.

The petitioner pleaded the court to declare the impugned notification of the interior ministry null and void with regard to taking over the assets of the two organisations.

Separately, Saeed had challenged the presidential ordinance under which his group has been banned for being on the watch-list of the UN in the Islamabad High Court.