India To Issue Summons To Hafiz Saeed In Pakistan Via Diplomatic Channels: Sources

The Indian government will send court summons for Pakistan-based terrorist leader Hafiz Saeed to Islamabad via diplomatic channels in the Pahalgam terror attack case of 2025, sources have told NDTV. The move is significant for the legal proceedings as India seeks to place on record that the accused was given sufficient opportunity to appear before a court and present their side.

Next steps would include declaring him a Proclaimed Offender. Indian law permits investigation, trial, or judgment against a PO in their absence, as per Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has named Hafiz Saeed as an accused in the conspiracy case related to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 27 people at the tourist spot in Jammu and Kashmir.

A special NIA court in Jammu has already issued a non-bailable warrant against him in this case.

Islamabad's Claim, MEA's Move

There is no extradition arrangement in place between India and Pakistan. India has already designated Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed as a global and individual terrorist under anti-terror laws, as did the US several years ago. An Interpol Red Corner Notice has also been issued against him.

Pakistan claims Lahore-based Saeed, 76, is in custody following his conviction in terror-financing cases. But Indian agencies have long alleged that elements within Pakistan's security establishment have been attempting to shield terrorists like Saeed from sweeping international action by showing they have acted against them.

Read: Hafiz Saeed Sent 10,000 Terrorists To Kashmir, Claims Pakistani Cleric

Summons for Saeed will be shared with Pakistan's foreign ministry via the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The NIA has underlined his role as a leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba and another terror group called The Resistance Front (TRF).

Following the non-bailable warrant, the process of officially serving court-issued summons in Pakistan is now being set in motion, sources said.

Move Made in Mumbai Case Too

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police approached the Union Home Ministry to serve the court proclamation orders via Interpol against six absconding accused, including LeT founders Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, setting the stage to try them in absentia for their role in the 26/11 terror attacks of 2008. The police, represented by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, submitted on Friday an interim report on the proclamation order issued in July this year against the absconding accused for initiating the process for trial in absentia.

"We have written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for taking necessary steps in serving the proclamation order, through Interpol, against the accused residing in Pakistan," Nikam told the special court hearing terror cases, as per news agency PTI. "On August 3, the MHA had acknowledged our request, and sought time for filing a status of the same," he said.

The court conducting the trial in the 26/11 attacks case had issued the proclamation orders against Saeed, Lakhvi and other absconding accused Sajid Mir, Abu Alqama, Asim alias Abu Qahafa, and Major Abdur Rehman Pasha, all Pakistani nationals.