ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to three persons allegedly involved in attacking and burning Ahmadis place of worship – Bait-uz-Zikar.
Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who headed a three-judge bench, hearing the appeals of accused namely Adnan Mushtaq, Imran Nazir and Muhammad Mansha, said that attack on a worship place should be considered a crime against the state.
According to police, an enraged mob of 400 to 500 persons in November 2015 had torched the worship place of Ahmadis in Kala Gujran, Jhelum district after the report that a few members of Ahmadi community in their chipboard factory had desecrated the holy Quran. The police arrested around 20 persons for attacking and burning the worship place and registered a case against them.
Justice Dost Muhammad, another member of the bench, remarked the government’s writ is not seen anywhere, adding the lawyers though talk about supremacy of law, yet people had witnessed what had happened in Islamabad High Court. He said the incident showed how much respect the lawyers have for the Supreme Court judgments.
The lawyers of Islamabad High Court on February 29 had condemned the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri in Adiala Jail. The IHC and the Supreme Court had maintained the death sentence of Qadri. The apex court had ruled that criticising the blasphemy law is not blasphemy.The accused counsel Ansar Nawaz Mirza argued before the bench that the police had wrongly registered a case against his clients as they live in the same street where Qadiani’s worship place exists, adding on that day they were going to pick up their children from schools but the police arrested them.
Ansar said his clients’ names are not in the FIR but the police later included them in the case through ‘zimni’ (supplementary statement). He said the co-accused Hamza who had been named in the FIR was allowed bail and Qari Khalil Ahmed also named in the FIR was declared innocent during investigation. He said there is no cogent evidence available against his clients.
Anti-Terrorism Court and a division bench of Lahore High Court had dismissed the accused post arrest bail. They have filed the appeal against the LHC order in the apex court. Justice Gulzar after hearing the arguments granted them bail.
http://nation.com.pk/islamabad/09-Mar-2016/three-get-bail-in-case-of-attacking-ahmadis-worship-place