A disappointed India watched Hafiz Muhammad Saeed win another reprieve on Monday when the Lahore High Court quashed the two cases against him that had been registered less than a month earlier.
Saeed is the founder of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), and allegedly the brain behind last year’s November 26 Mumbai terror attack that killed over 160 people.
Saeed had moved court, pointing at gaping loopholes in the FIRs against him. He was charged with inciting and
collecting funds for jihad.
“The petition has been accepted and the cases are quashed,” the court said in its order.
The UN Security Council had last December declared that the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which Saeed headed, was just another name for the LeT, and put both on its list of terrorist groups. But Islamabad has refrained from proscribing the JuD or Saeed.
Saeed was detained soon after the 26/11 attacks to ease growing pressure on Pakistan. But that case against him crumbled four months later on grounds of insufficient evidence.
Officials in India’s security establishment said they were disappointed but not surprised. “This isn’t the first time Islamabad has taken cover under a judicial order to bail out Saeed,” a home ministry official said.
{{/usCountry}}Officials in India’s security establishment said they were disappointed but not surprised. “This isn’t the first time Islamabad has taken cover under a judicial order to bail out Saeed,” a home ministry official said.
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