Hide and seek: JuD withdraws plea against ban

The ban was on the collection of hides of sacrificial animals on Eidul Azha.

LAHORE:

Jamatud Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed on Wednesday withdrew his petition challenging a ban on the collection of hides of sacrificial animals on Eidul Azha.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial dismissed the petition on his request.

Deputy Attorney General Azar Latif had submitted at the previous hearing that the United Nations Peace Council had passed a resolution banning the JuD from collecting hides of sacrificial animals.

Nearly 45 organisations including the JuD had been banned from collecting hides, he said. Saeed, in his petition, had submitted that the JuD was not a proscribed organisation. The ban violated his fundamental rights, he said.

He said the ban had been imposed a few days before Eid... that showed malafide intent on the government’s part.

He had prayed the court to declare the ban as illegal. The petition has been pending since last year. However, the government had submitted its reply on Wednesday, almost a year after it was filed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2013.