LAHORE - The Lahore High Court on Thursday restrained government from harassing Jamatud Dawa’s (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and allowed him to continue lawful activities for the welfare purposes till further orders.

Justice Aminuddin Khan of the LHC passed the order on a petition moved by Hafiz Saeed Ahmad, the head of Jamatudawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), with directives for authorities concerned to submit report on the next hearing fixed for April 23.

Hafiz Saeed’s counsel advocate AK Dogar argued that government was harassing the petitioner and creating hurdles in his welfare projects. He said he was a citizen of Pakistan but the life was made difficult for him on the pressure of international powers. Pakistan, he said, was a sovereign state and no one could impose his agenda for personal gains from the outside. He said the constitution guaranteed freedom of movement and freedom of work.

Saeed was of the view that FIF had been playing great role for development and prosperity of the country and serving with great commitment and dedication. JUD chief said it owned 369 ambulances which shifted 72,000 persons to charity hospitals and treated 600,000 patients in 2017 while JuD dug out 2000 wells for supplying water in Tharparkar, Balochistan and Baltistan.

He prayed the court to set aside the impugned notification of the interior ministry and allow his organizations to serve the people.