By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a lawsuit by the Islamic socio-religious organization Deendar Anjuman challenging the government’s ban on it for allegedly disturbing communal harmony.
A bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice M.K. Sharma dismissed Deendar Anjuman’s petition, challenging the ruling of an anti-terror tribunal, which had on Feb 27 upheld the government’s latest ban on the organization in August 2007.
The bench’s move came despite the fact that the organisation’s petition challenging the ban on it for the third time in 2005 was still pending with the apex court.
The bench said that earlier petition might have become infructuous by now.
Justice Mukul Mudgal of the Delhi High Court, heading the anti-terror tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, said there was enough material on record to justify the ban.
Deendaar Anjuman counsel Mustaq Ahmed, however, contended in his petition that the tribunal upheld the ban despite observing that “it (Deendar Anjuman) promotes love and affection amongst different religious communities”.
Ahmed argued that the tribunal upheld the ban despite its earlier inclination to lift it after finding not enough evidence to sustain it.
But the government’s counsel, at the fag end of the hearing, had told the tribunal it had secret intelligence reports against the organization, which it wanted to reveal to the tribunal confidentially, Ahmed said.
On the government’s plea, the tribunal conducted the hearing in camera and upheld the ban on the organisation without bringing the contents of the intelligence report against it on the records.
Ahmed argued that the government had been banning the organization repeatedly since 2001 on the basis of the Deendar Anjuman’s alleged role in triggering 12 blasts in various churches in southern India in mid-2001.
Denying the role of the organisation’s activists in the blasts, Ahmed said they were made scapegoats after the police failed to nab the real culprits.
Ahmed pointed out that the Deendar Anjuman’s activists and spiritual leaders are known for their knowledge of various religious scriptures and languages, including Sanskrit, Arabic and English.
Owing to their scholastic disposition, Deendar Anjuman leaders are often invited for religious discourse by various religious organization of different faiths, including those of Hindus at the Kumbh Mela congregations at Allahabad.