Lahore: A Pakistani court on Friday upheld an objection on the petition of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed challenging his arrest in the terror financing cases.
The Lahore High Court registrar office raised objection over the pictures of mosques attached with the petition, filed by Saeed and 67 others, to establish that they had been constructed on places being portrayed for the use of alleged terrorist activities.
The Registrar office contended that the petitioners attached the pictures of the mosques to give an impression that the structures are built on "land occupied by them illegally" to make it a "religious issue". A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court headed by Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi sustained the objection and directed the petitioners to file a new petition and make sure that no picture of mosque is attached with it. Advocate A K Dogar said the new petition will be filed shortly.
On Tuesday, Saeed, a UN designated Pakistani terrorist on whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty, and 67 other leaders of Jammat-ud-Dawah and Falah-i-Insaniat, filed a fresh petition, challenging the FIRs of terror financing against them in the Lahore High Court through their counsels, Advocate A K Dogar, Ahmad Abudullah Dogar and Ghulam Yasin Bhatti.
The anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Gujrat, some 200-km from Lahore, will take up the case for hearing on September 2. Saeed was arrested on July 17 in a terror financing case. He is kept at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail in high security.
The petitioners said they are not members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and neither they have any nexus with it. They also cited some previous courts observations in this regard.
Saeed and others prayed to the LHC to declare that the property detailed in the petition was "dedicated for the purpose of mosques and is being used as such, therefore, the FIRs are without lawful authority and of no legal effect."
Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which was responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. He was listed under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police had registered 23 FIRs against the petitioners on the charges of "terror financing" in different cities of Punjab province.
The cases have been registered in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan for collection of funds for terrorism financing through assets and properties made and held in the names of Trusts or Non Profit Organisations (NPO), including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust and Muaz Bin Jabal Trust.
"These suspects made assets from funds of terrorism financing. They held and used these assets to raise more funds for further terrorism financing. Hence, they committed multiple offences of terrorism financing and money laundering under Anti-Terrorism Act 1997," the CTD said.
The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.
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