SC permits Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa to run charity operations

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday permitted Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its humanitarian arm Falahi Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) to continue their relief and charity work in the country.

The two-member SC bench including Justice Manzoor Ahmed Mulk and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood rejected the federal government's appeal against Lahore High Court's verdict.

JuD's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance services. The JuD and FIF alone have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers, according to two counter-terrorism officials.

Earlier, the Pakistani government banned companies and individuals from making donations to JuD, FIF, and other organisations on the UNSC sanctions list.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa, FIF banned in Pakistan under amended ATA

The President of Pakistan amended the ATA to include action against entities banned by UNSC.

According to a notification issued by Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), all companies have been prohibited from "donating cash to the entities and individuals listed under the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions committee’s consolidated list".

The UNSC sanctions list includes the names of al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, JuD, FiF, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other organisations and individuals. A copy of the SECP notification, dated January 1, 2018 is available with Geo News.

JuD chief Professor Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in his reaction called the verdict, 'victory of justice and truth', and directed the charity staffers to observe thanksgiving prayers. "We are grateful to Almighty Allah that it gave victory to the Jamatud Dawa, which is serving humanity in all four provinces and Azad Kashmir," he said.