State, not individuals can request for funds for Jihad: LHC

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has ruled that inciting the public to raise funds for ‘Jihad’ is not allowed to individuals in an Islamic state as this may be considered as “Baghawat” (treason).

“At the most it may be a job of the State to collect national funds for a declared war, if essential, which cannot be raised privately by any organisation,” a two-judge bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi explains in a verdict dismissing appeals of two men convicted for raising funds for proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

An anti-terrorism court of Sargodha had awarded five years imprisonment each to the appellants –Muhammad Ibrahim and Ubaidur Rehman in January 2021.

As per the prosecution story, the police on a tip-off arrested Ibrahim and recovered 136 pamphlets, one used subscription book, two unused subscription books of the banned organization and cash whereas a receipt of domination was recovered from Rehman besides other material.

Justice Najafi, the author of the verdict, observes that no malafide of the police witnesses were even alleged to cause aspersion to their credibility.

He observes that the display of different heads on the pamphlet was not essential as the fact remains that the TTP, is a defunct and proscribed organization which has caused damage not only to the state institutions and targeted the state high functionaries but also intensified the wave of terrorism in the past which would not have been possible without the financial support.

The judge maintains that the prosecution proved the case against the appellants on the basis of direct evidence beyond reasonable doubt.