‘Bail to a blasphemy accused’: NA panel discusses apex court ruling

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Wednesday discussed the apex court’s ruling to release a blasphemy accused on bail by the chief justice, with majority of the members belonging to different political parties demanding the verdict to be reviewed.

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice, which met here with Mehmood Bashir Virk in the chair, discussed the ruling as it is supposed to conclude a debate on the apex court’s verdict by today (Thursday) and submit a report to the house on Friday.

The lawmakers belonging to all the political parties maintained that the finality of Prophethood (PBUH) is a red line and no one would be allowed to cross it.

They said that no one – whether he is a judge, a general or anyone else – would be allowed to cross this red line, as it has been decided that there would be no compromise on finality of Prophethood (PBUH).

They were unanimous in saying that the apex court judgement wrongly interpreted that publication and distribution of misleading translation of the holy Quran was not an offence when the crime was allegedly committed.

It is pertinent to mention that the accused, Mubarak Ahmad Sani, was booked under sections 7 and 9 of the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing and Recording) Act, 2011, for a crime he allegedly committed in 2019.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that the said provisions were made part of the law in 2021, two years after the crime was allegedly committed. The committee will meet again to discuss the issue threadbare.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024