Pakistan: Hafiz Saeed’s JuD, FIF no longer in list of banned terror outfits

United Nations designated terrorist and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) are no longer in the list of Pakistan’s banned terror outfits as the presidential ordinance that proscribed them under a UN resolution has lapsed.

Notably, in February this year, the then Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain promulgated an ordinance amending the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, thereby banning terrorists and terror outfits that were listed by the UNSC. The JuD and FIF were banned under this ordinance.

Later, Saeed challenged the ordinance under which his organisations had been banned for being on the watch list of the United Nations Security Council. In his plea, Saeed had also claimed that the ordinance issued was against the sovereignty and Constitution of Pakistan.

During the hearing on Thursday, Saeed’s counsel informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the ordinance was neither extended by the current government nor it was tabled in the Parliament to convert it into the act.

Deputy Attorney General Raja Khalid Mehmood Khan confirmed that the ordinance has lapsed. Subsequently, the judge said that Saeed’s plea was no longer effective as the ordinance was not extended by the government.

The Pakistan government had banned terror organisations and individuals from making donations to JuD, FIF and others on the UN Security Council sanctioned list. The list includes the names of terror outfits like Al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, JuD, FIF and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

According to a list updated on September 5 on the National Counter Terrorism Authority’s website, 66 organisations have been banned in Pakistan and the JuD and FIF are not among them.

Also Read: Haryana: Mosque built with Hafiz Saeed led Lashkar-e-Taiba funds, says NIA