Petitioner agrees to remove LHC objection over JuD chief's plea

Says will remove pictures attached with the petition seeking to quash FIRs

LAHORE: In response to the objection raised by the Lahore High Court registrar office over a petition seeking to quash several FIRs against Jamaatud Dawa head Hafiz Saeed, petitioner JuD leader Malik Zafar Iqbal agreed to remove it.

The registrar office raised objection over the pictures attached with the petition to establish that the mosques had been constructed on places being portrayed for the use of alleged terrorist activities.

As the proceedings commenced, the division bench, headed by Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, directed to remove the objection and produce the pictures before the court when required.

The petitioner's counsel implored that the law allowed them to do that, on which, Justice Naqvi remarked, “Then you would have to establish the authenticity of the pictures by producing its negatives and those who took these pictures.”

However, the petitioner's counsel agreed to remove the pictures from the petition.

The court then sent the petition to the concerned office from where it would be fixed for proceedings.

Petitioner Iqbal had contended that there were 23 FIRs registered in different police stations under false charges against 68 respondents, including Hafiz Saeed and others.

He implored the court that the impugned FIRs describing the petitioner as head of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba were factually and legally incorrect.

He submitted that the petitioner, Hafiz Saeed, and others were not the members of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba as held in 2009 YLR 2475 – a full bench judgment of the LHC.

The federal and provincial governments had challenged this order in the Supreme Court, but the order was upheld with the petition being withdrawn; therefore, petitioners had no nexus with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

He contended that the above submission was supported by the following observation in 2009 YLR 2475 (2477). The precise facts as mentioned in this petition were that the petitioners belonged to the Jamaatud Dawa organisation having no nexus with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the detention of the petitioners relying upon the resolution of UNO was illegal and unlawful as the petitioners or their organisation were not involved in terrorist activities, but they were only working for the welfare of the people like “Edhi”, but more than that they were also educating the poor and needy people.

He contended that the same full-court judgment of the LHC 2009 YLR 2475 (2496) after examining the issue held, “Even after the perusal of the said documents we do not find any material declaring that the detention was necessary for the security of the petitioners and there is no evidence that the petitioners had any links with al Qaida or any other terrorist movement which could endanger the security of Pakistan except for the bald allegations being leveled by the Indian lobby that they are involved in Mumbai attacks, but there is no such evidence or even any linkage in the said documents against the petitioners. There is also no such evidence declaring that the petitioners are involved in anti-state activities and security risk.”

He had prayed the court that the FIRs which the police had registered against them be dismissed. It was further prayed to declare that none of the petitioners and Pro-forma respondents were linked with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and therefore FIRs were without lawful authority and of no legal effect.