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Last Updated:May 09, 2025, 10:40 IST
Hafiz Saeed and several other JuD leaders have reportedly filed petitions in the Lahore High Court requesting the annulment of their multiple-year sentences
Hafiz Saeed filed a petition at Lahore HC, seeking to overturn his terror financing conviction. (PTI/File)
In a deeply troubling move amid war-like conditions between India and Pakistan, the Lahore High Court has received a petition from Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, seeking to overturn his conviction in terror financing cases. The development signals what many in India view as a dangerous pivot by Pakistan, which appears to be leaning openly toward appeasing terrorists at a time of conflict.
Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and chief of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), has been lodged at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail since his arrest in July 2019. However, multiple unconfirmed reports suggest he may not have been incarcerated in the true sense, and may have been living in a “safe place" all along.
According to reports, Saeed and several other JuD leaders have filed petitions in the Lahore High Court requesting the annulment of their multiple-year sentences. The case has been taken up by a two-judge bench comprising Justices Shahbaz Rizvi and Tariq Mahmood Bajwa, although a hearing date has not yet been announced.
This legal manoeuvre comes at a time when India and Pakistan are on the brink of war, with Indian forces thwarting Pakistani attempts late on Thursday to strike military installations in J&K and Punjab. In retaliation, India struck Pakistani capital Islamabad as well as Lahore and Sialkot. Earlier, on Wednesday, India conducted airstrikes under Operation Sindoor to dismantle several terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The airstrikes came two weeks after Pakistan-backed terrorists killed 26 Indians, mostly tourists, in J&K’s Pahalgam.
Reports suggest Pakistan’s move to rehabilitate Saeed and others is aimed at rallying the remnants of its proxy network.
Having long attempted to escape the label of a state sponsor of terror, Pakistan had initially jailed Saeed under immense international pressure, particularly from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the United States, which had placed a $10 million bounty on him. His arrest was seen as a gesture to avoid blacklisting and economic sanctions.
However, Hafiz Saeed’s petition amidst escalating cross-border tensions and a nationalist fervour sweeping both nations has not gone unnoticed. If granted, Saeed’s release would be interpreted as Pakistan’s overt endorsement of anti-India terrorism at the highest level.
Security experts warn that the petition is not merely a legal exercise but part of a broader psychological operation. It’s meant to restore confidence among the terror cadres, said a retired Indian intelligence official, adding that releasing Hafiz Saeed would send a loud message that Pakistan still shields and nurtures terrorists.
With war clouds darkening Pakistan and missiles already exchanged across the border, the potential return of Hafiz Saeed to public life could further inflame tensions. For India, his release would not just be an insult to the memory of the 166 victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, but a sign that Pakistan is prepared to abandon all pretences in its long-standing proxy war.
Location : First Published:News india Pakistan To Free Hafiz Saeed Amid War With India? Petition Filed In Lahore High Court
