LAHORE, July 22: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday fixed the petition of Maulana Azam Tariq, the president of banned religious outfit Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, against ban on his party for September 9.

The petitioner had also sought unfreezing of bank accounts of the party and lifting of restrictions on other financial activities till the decision of his petition.

According to the petitioner, his party had been declared a terrorist organization by the former military regime without any legal justification and the impugned order had no legal recognition. He submitted that this decision had become ineffective after the restoration of the 1973 Constitution.

The petitioner contended that his party, along with seven other parties, had been declared terrorist organization on the orders of an individual.

He submitted that under the Political Parties Act of 1962, only the Supreme Court had the authority to ban the activities of a political party with reasons to be recorded after hearing the version of the state and the party.

He contended that there was no evidence available to suggest that his party had ever indulged in any activity prejudicial to the sovereignty of the country and it had every right of being exempted from the ban for being a true political party.

He submitted that freezing of accounts had brought the party’s social and humanitarian work at halt. It had also affected its religious activities as it had been maintaining a number of mosques throughout the country.

Lastly, the petitioner submitted that the party had sustained a loss of at least Rs7.7 million worth funds, which according to him, were expected to be generated through the collection of animal hides on the occasion of Eidul Azha.