LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday convicted three persons for leading an angry mob to besiege a gurdwara in Nankana Sahib following a disputed marriage of a Sikh girl with a Muslim boy last year.

Presiding Judge Ijaz Buttar handed down two-year imprisonment to Imran Chishti along with a fine of Rs10,000 while six-month each to Muhammad Salman and Muhammad Ahmad. The judge acquitted five other suspects for want of evidence.

Jagjeet Kaur of Nankana Sahib, after embracing Islam, had married Muhammad Hassaan and there were protests by local Sikh and Muslim communities. With a local court’s order, the girl was later shifted to Darul Aman.

Before the Lahore High Court, the family of the girl claimed she was under pressure and needed to be given more time to make a final decision. However, the girl maintained before the court that she did not want to go with her family.

JuD: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday convicted three leaders of Jamatud Dawa (JuD) in another case of terror financing.

Presiding Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta awarded 15-and-half-year imprisonment each to Zafar Iqbal and Yahya Mujahid while six-month term to Abdul Rehman Makki in FIR No 88 of 2019.

Several leaders of the JuD including its chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed have been convicted in many FIRs registered by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on charges of terror financing while trial proceedings in others are still pending.

The CTD had registered 41 cases against the leaders of the JuD in different cities. The trial courts have so far decided 29 cases.

In a recent verdict, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi of defunct Lashkar-i-Taiba has been convicted of five-year imprisonment on three counts in a case of terror financing.

Sharif’s mills plea: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought further arguments from the counsel for Chaudhry Sugar Mills, owned by the Sharif family, on the maintainability of its petition challenging a notice for audit inspection issued by the commissioner of the Inland Revenue.

The mills in the petition filed through its secretary questioned the intention of the department for selecting it for the audit inspection. The counsel said the impugned action was a result of political victimisation.

A deputy attorney general objected to the maintainability of the petition for being premature. He said the matter could be assailed before the court only after the holding of the audit inspection.

Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh observed that the commissioner had the power to hold an audit inspection of any company or the individual.

However, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the mills had been subjected to vindictive actions at the behest of the government. He asked the court to set aside the notices issued by the commissioner Inland Revenue.

The judge adjourned the hearing for a week and directed the counsel to come up with more arguments to establish the maintainability of the petition.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2021