United Nations: New Delhi has strongly rejected a report by a UN Special Rapporteur (SR) describing gangster Dawood Ibrahim-led D-company as "India-based" criminal group, flagging "glaring inaccuracies" in the report and cautioning that such incompetence causes tremendous harm to the world body.
India also strongly hit out at the bias in the counter-terror report and called for high standards of impartiality.
India's rebuttal of the SR report
First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Raghoo Puri delivered the strong rebuttal on Wednesday in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, responding to a report by Ben Saul, the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism.
“My delegation has been pointing out in other forums as well our serious concern at the unacceptable situation of the SR (Special Rapporteur) releasing reports with factual inaccuracies, while not being held accountable for them,” Puri said.
He said this presents member states with a fait accompli, an unfortunate situation for an organisation already facing challenges to its legitimacy.
"It is in this context that we would like to point out some particularly glaring inaccuracies as far as my country is concerned," Puri said.
He underlined that the report by Saul said that in 2003, the Security Council listed the leader of one criminal group, "the India-based D-Company", for association with Al- Qaeda.
"Read in isolation, this line paints a very different picture from the actual reality,” Puri said.
Strongly rejecting the description of D-Company as India-based, Puri said the criminal organisation and its listed leader, Dawood Ibrahim, have been wanted in India in connection with terror attacks since 1993.
"This is clearly written in the narrative summary of reasons of listing under the 1267 sanctions regime,” he said, referring to the UN Security Council's Al-Qaeda sanctions regime.
"Not mentioning this fact is regrettable, and such incompetence on part of special mandate holders does this organisation tremendous harm," Puri said.
"Let me correct it for the record. This individual fled India much before the 2003 listing, and it was during this period from outside our country that he was listed for being associated with Al Qaeda and with Osama bin Laden," he said.
Dawood Ibrahim remains a wanted criminal in India and according to the UN listing, he resides in the same country where Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed, Puri said, making a clear reference to Pakistan.
Bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs in a raid in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in 2011.
India also flagged what it called “clear bias” in different parts of Saul's report and expressed concern over media allegations against the office of the special rapporteur, calling for the highest standards of probity and impartiality.
On Ben Saul, the SR
Saul is chair of international law at the University of Sydney and an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.
The report has also drawn scrutiny over allegations concerning Saul's funding.
UN Watch, a nongovernmental organisation that monitors the performance of the United Nations, alleged in a 104-page investigation published in May 2026, titled 'From Watchdogs to Ideologues', that Saul received $150,000 from China.
"The Chinese government is his largest funder, giving USD 150,000 in 2024," the UN Watch investigation said.
Puri also cautioned against what he described as attempts by sponsors of terrorism to use human rights and counterterrorism frameworks to justify their actions.
"It seems to have become fashionable for sponsors of terror to use human rights and the framework of counterterrorism to justify their misdeeds. Human rights framework cannot be the refuge of the perpetrators of terror and those who propagate radicalisation and extremism," he said.
India rejects remarks by Pakistan delegation
Puri also hit out at a remark made by the Pakistani delegation, reaffirming that Jammu and Kashmir were integral parts of India.
"Regarding the statement just made by the delegate of Pakistan, everyone in this room knows that what has been mentioned against my country, including about the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, is pure propaganda made for very narrow political gains. And these have been on account of the actual rulers of Pakistan, which is its military. I would like to reiterate for the record that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an inalienable part of India, and have been so, and will always remain. I would not like to dignify the statement of— by the Pakistani delegate with any further comment," he said.
On Tuesday, India had asserted that human rights should not be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective country targeting, while calling for accountability, transparency and cooperation to address enforced disappearances at the United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee.
Delivering India's statement on the agenda item concerning the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Deputy Secretary Barkha Tamrakar highlighted the constitutional and institutional safeguards available in India to address allegations of human rights violations.
(With inputs from PTI & ANI)
