Extansion of ban by 5 years: Special Tribunal issues notice to Zakir Naik’s IRF

New Delhi, Dec. 20: The Tribunal headed by Delhi HC Chief Justice DN Patel, which is examining the validity of the five-year extension of ban on Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) by the Centre as an “unlawful association“under the UAPA, commenced its proceedings on Monday.

The tribunal issued notice to the banned organisation and sought its response by December 28.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta who is heading the Centre’s legal team defending the extension of the ban volunteered to publish the notice in leading dailies too over and above regular service so that the banned organisation cannot take any technical defence.

The ban on IRF was extended by 5 years by the MHA through a notification issued on November 15. The notification said that Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) has been indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the country and have the potential of disturbing the peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the country.

The extension of the ban needs to be validated by the Tribunal or else it will be deemed to be illegal.

The Centre had constituted a seven-member legal team to defend its decision to declare the IRF as an unlawful association and also extending the ban by five years. Besides SG Tushar Mehta who will lead the arguments, others in the legal team are Senior Advocate Sachin Datta, Amit Mahajan, Rajat Nair, Kanu Agrawal, Jay Prakash and Dhruv Pandey.

The MHA notification extending the ban by five years also said that the Central government is of the opinion that the IRF and its members, particularly, the founder and president of the IRF Dr Zakir Naik has been encouraging and aiding its followers to promote or attempt to promote, on grounds of religion, disharmony or feeling of enmity, hatred or ill will between different religious communities and groups which are prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country.

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