Hafiz Saeed withdraws petition in Lahore High Court

Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed on Wednesday withdrew his petition challenging a ban on his organisation collecting hides of animals sacrificed during Eid-ul-Azha.

AK Dogar, the counsel for Saeed, requested Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial to allow the withdrawal of the petition after the federal government informed the court that JuD and another 45 organisations were banned from collecting hides.

The government said the ban was imposed in view of a resolution passed by UN Security Council, which declared the JuD a front for the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Dogar said Saeed would challenge the legal status of the ban in court and wanted to withdraw his petition.

The Chief Justice accepted his request and dismissed the petition.

Saeed, in his petition, had stated that the JuD was not a proscribed organisation under any Pakistani law.

He claimed the ban violated his fundamental rights.

He further claimed the ban imposed a day before the last Eid-ul-Azha showed the government's "mala fide intentions".

Groups like the JuD sell thousands of hides collected during Eid-ul-Azha to raise funds for their activities.

According to reliable estimates, the groups raise millions of rupees every year by selling the hides to tanneries.