Jammu: A special National Investigation Agency court in Jammu issued an open-dated non-bailable warrant against Lashkar-e-Taiba founder and chief Hafiz Saeed on July 8, 2026, two days after the NIA filed its supplementary chargesheet naming him as the key mastermind of the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terror attack. The warrant triggers a legal sequence under India's new criminal code that could, for the first time in India's judicial history, result in the trial and conviction of a Pakistan-based terrorist in his absence.
The order was passed by the Special Judge of the NIA Court on July 8, two days after the agency submitted the additional chargesheet in the case. The court observed: "Arrest and custodial interrogation of the accused (Saeed) are necessary for a fair, complete and effective investigation. As such, a non-bailable warrant of arrest is issued against him and is forwarded to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), NIA Jammu, for execution in accordance with law."
Saeed, who is a resident of Sargodha in Pakistan's Punjab province, is almost certainly not going to appear before any Indian court voluntarily. Extradition from Pakistan is not a realistic prospect. What the non-bailable warrant does instead is set in motion India's new legal provision for trial in absentia, a mechanism specifically designed to prevent fugitives from indefinitely escaping justice by remaining outside Indian jurisdiction.
What the NIA Told the Court
In its submission before the Special NIA Court, the NIA said Hafiz Saeed has been deliberately avoiding arrest despite being a key accused in the case. The agency requested the court to issue an open-dated non-bailable warrant to facilitate further legal proceedings and enable action against him during the ongoing investigation.
The NIA has concluded in its probe that the April 22, 2025 terror attack involved religion-based targeted killings by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists. Of the 26 killed, 25 were Hindus.
The supplementary chargesheet filed on July 6 builds on the initial chargesheet of December 15, 2025. It names Saeed in his individual capacity as well as in his role as supreme commander of LeT and its active proxy, The Resistance Front. He has been charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, including the provision for waging war against India and hatching a cross-border conspiracy.
The chargesheet also contains fresh forensic evidence collected from the Baisaran attack site, as well as documented intelligence links establishing the chain of command from Saeed through Pakistani handler Sajid Jatt to the three perpetrators who carried out the killings on the ground, all three of whom were subsequently killed by Indian security forces during Operation Mahadev on July 29, 2025.
What Is a Trial in Absentia and Why This Is Historic
Trial in absentia is a legal provision introduced under India's new criminal laws that allows courts to proceed with the trial of an absconding accused who deliberately evades the judicial process despite legal notices and warrants. The provision is aimed at ensuring that fugitives involved in serious offences cannot indefinitely delay the course of justice by remaining outside the country's jurisdiction.
The specific provision is Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, India's new Code of Criminal Procedure that replaced the CrPC in 2024. It is titled "Trial or judgment in absentia of proclaimed offender" and creates a formal legal pathway for courts to proceed to trial, frame charges, hear evidence, and deliver verdicts against accused persons who have been declared proclaimed offenders and continue to evade the judicial process.
To prevent misuse, a court cannot immediately start a trial in absentia. The law mandates strict prerequisites that must be followed first. The court must issue two consecutive arrest warrants with an interval of at least 30 days between them. A notice must be published in a national or local newspaper circulating in the area of the offender's last known address. The court must inform a relative or friend of the accused about the upcoming trial. A copy of the trial notice must be pasted on a visible part of the accused's home and displayed at the local police station. Even after doing all the above, the trial cannot start until 90 days have passed from the date the charges were officially framed.
The July 8 non-bailable warrant constitutes the first of the two consecutive warrants required by law. A second warrant must be issued at least 30 days later. Only after that second warrant and the publication, notification, and pasting requirements, can the 90-day clock begin running toward the commencement of a formal trial.
Also Read: NIA Names Hafiz Saeed in Pahalgam Supplementary Chargesheet
Even though Saeed is a UN-designated terrorist and multiple charge sheets have been filed against him in the past, he has never been tried as he never appeared before Indian courts. Section 356 of the BNSS is specifically designed to change that, to ensure that a Pakistani terrorist mastermind cannot secure de facto impunity simply by remaining on the other side of the border.
What Comes Next: Proclaimed Offender Status and Property Attachment
The NIA's next procedural step, following the issuance of the non-bailable warrant, is to formally notify Pakistan's judicial authorities through diplomatic channels and await a response, a response that, as a senior official told the Hindustan Times, Pakistani authorities are "unlikely" to provide.
The NIA is now expected to move the court seeking to have Saeed declared a Proclaimed Offender after the warrant remains unexecuted. The move would enable investigating agencies to initiate further legal proceedings, including attachment of properties under relevant provisions of law.
A proclaimed offender designation under Section 84 of the BNSS, previously Section 82 of the CrPC, opens several additional enforcement avenues. It allows the court to order attachment of any property, moveable or immoveable, belonging to the proclaimed offender. It also creates a basis for India to submit formal requests to international bodies, including the Financial Action Task Force and the UN Security Council's sanctions committee, for enhanced financial monitoring of the accused.
According to sources, Pakistani officials are unlikely to respond to India's judicial requests. Based on this NBW, the NIA will seek to declare Saeed a proclaimed offender. It will be sent to Pakistan through formal channels, followed by a request to repatriate him.
Who Is Hafiz Saeed: The Legal and Security Profile
Hafiz Saeed is the founder of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror organisation banned by India and several other countries. He has been designated as a global terrorist by both India and the United States and is widely regarded as one of the masterminds behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that claimed 166 lives. His inclusion in the Pahalgam terror attack investigation further strengthens the NIA's case linking Pakistan-based terror networks with the deadly assault in Jammu and Kashmir.
The United States maintains a ten million dollar bounty on Saeed. In 2022, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced him to 31 years in prison on terror financing charges, a sentence that was widely described internationally as cosmetic, given that it did not result in his removal from public life or the dismantling of his network's infrastructure.
Despite multiple international sanctions, he continues to remain in Pakistan, where India has repeatedly accused Islamabad of shielding him from prosecution.
India's FATF push, currently underway ahead of the October 2026 plenary will cite the same evidence base the NIA has presented in the Pahalgam chargesheet, including the video footage of Pakistani military officers attending the funerals of militants killed during Operation Sindoor. The non-bailable warrant and the impending proclaimed offender designation add judicial weight to that diplomatic campaign, establishing that India is not merely making political accusations but pursuing formal legal accountability through its own courts.
For the 26 families who lost members at Baisaran on April 22, 2025, the non-bailable warrant is one more step in a legal process they may never see reach its conclusion in a conventional courtroom. Section 356 of the BNSS offers the possibility of a verdict even in the permanent absence of the accused, a verdict that, while it cannot compel Saeed's physical punishment, can establish legal guilt on the record of an Indian court and carry consequences under international financial and diplomatic law that reach beyond the courtroom's walls.
.webp)
