US bounty on Saeed not binding on Pak: Govt tells LHC

Lahore, Apr 26 (ANI): Lahore High Court Chief Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed has expressed his dissatisfaction over the foreign office's reply, and directed the Pakistan Government to file explicit replies on whether a foreign state can fix head-money for a Pakistani citizen.

The Foreign Office in its reply stated that the U.S. announcement of a bounty on Jamaat-ut-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and his deputy Hafiz Abdur Rehman Makki is not binding on Pakistan, The News reports.

A deputy attorney general, acting on behalf of the ministry, also told Chief Justice Saeed that the Security Council Committee had designated Hafiz Saeed as an "enlisted legal person" on December 10, 2008.

He said the Foreign Office spokesman had, on April 4, stated that Pakistan would prefer to receive concrete evidence to proceed legally rather than to be engaging in a public discussion on this issue.

Chief Justice Saeed, however, directed the government to file a comprehensive reply on the matter. The Punjab Government also sought time from the court to file its reply. At this, Chief Justice Saeed adjourned the hearing of the case till May 7.

On behalf of the petitioners, Advocate A.K Dogar had submitted that Saeed was chief of the JuD, a charitable organisation, and had no nexus with the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

The media, on April 3, had highlighted that U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman had stated in New Delhi that head-money of 10 million dollars and 3 million dollars had been announced on Hafiz Saeed and Hafiz Makki respectively.

The counsel argued that the U.S. was acting on the instigation of India. He mentioned that Pakistani courts, including the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court, had already exonerated Saeed of all charges leveled against him by India and the United States. (ANI)