LAHORE: Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has approached the Lahore High Court to avert his arrest allegedly at the behest of the United States and India.

In a petition filed through lawyer A.K. Dogar in the LHC on Tuesday, Mr Saeed said a delegation of the United Nations was due in the country on Friday (Jan 26) and the government intended to take an “adverse action” against him during the team’s stay.

The counsel for Hafiz Saeed said the petitioner was the founder/chairman of JuD and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and he had set up 142 schools and three universities and was engaged in public welfare for a long time.

Mr Dogar stated that the Punjab government had recently detained the petitioner under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance for 90 days, but a review board comprising judges of the high court had rejected the government’s application for extending Hafiz Saeed’s house arrest because it was unable to justify his detention.

The counsel alleged that the government had acted against the petitioner under pressure from the US and Indian lobbies, which “have made an unfounded assumption that Mr Saeed was somehow involved in the Mumbai attacks”.

Mr Dogar requested the court to restrain the federal government from acting in a manner not permitted by law and to direct it to respect fundamental rights of the petitioner under Article 9 of the Constitution.

The counsel sought the court’s directive for the government not to take any adverse action, including arrest of the petitioner, during the UN delegation’s presence.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2018