Pak militants’ charity runs Islamic court in Lahore

ISLAMABAD: Reports have surfaced in the Pakistani city of Lahore that a charity run by the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba has established an Islamic court separate from the regular judiciary.
The spokesman of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity claims it’s not a parallel judicial system but that the court works with the consent of two rival parties to decide disputes.
Yahya Mujahid said Thursday the court’s decisions are taken by religious scholars guided by Islamic law, or Shariah.
Legal experts say such a Taliban-style system is illegal and unconstitutional.
Dawn newspaper first reported on the Islamic court. Government spokesman Zaeem Qadri said an investigation is underway.
Real estate agent Khalid Saeed says he received a summons from the Islamic court, providing a copy to The Associated Press. Jamaat-ud-Dawa denied it issued the summons.
Pakistan Bar Council member Azam Nazir Tarar said the Constitution does not allow any private organisation to use the word “court”.
The word can be used for Supreme Court, Federal Shariat Court, high courts and all other courts established by a high court only.