Court reserves judgment over Khalid Jadoon’s plea in blasphemy case

A trail court reserved the judgment against bail plea of prayer leader Khalid Jadoon Chishti, who was implicated in a blasphemy case against Christian girl Rimsha Masih, seeking an explanation over stay order issued by Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Counsel for the prayer leader, Syed Wajid Ali Gillani was of the opinion that the IHC had issued a restraining order against Rimsha’s trial (until Oct 17), but not against granting bail to his client.

Moreover, Rao Abdul Rahim, the counsel for Hammad Malik, the prime accuser in the blasphemy case against Rimsha, and district attorney Islamabad, Mehfooz Paracha, also said that no restraining order had been issued against granting bail to Jadoon.

In reply to this, the judge recommended the petitioner to consult with the IHC over details on the restraining order against Rimsha’s trial.

The judge, after hearing the counsels’ arguments, reserved his judgment on the bail application saying that the decision will be issued on Oct 11.

Police had arrested Jadoon on Sept 1 after Hafiz Zubair, a member of the Mehra Jaffer mosque, had accused him of altering the evidence against Rimsha.

Earlier, the three witnesses who had earlier testified against Chishti had withdrawn their statements, insisting that the police had “coerced” them into doing so.

In their affidavits before the court, witnesses Hafiz Owais, Khurram Shahzad and Danish Ahmed had reneged from their previously-recorded statements, claiming these were recorded under duress.

According to their new affidavits, they did not see prayer leader Chishti desecrating pages from the Holy Quran and adding them to the evidence against Rimsha.

Rimsha was arrested on Aug 18 under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Her case gained huge attention because of the girl’s age and questions about her mental capacity.

On Sept 7, the additional district and sessions court of Islamabad had granted bail to the Rimsha.

Later on Sept 8, she was airlifted from Adiyala jail to an unspecified location within Islamabad under the protective custody of police after completion of legal formalities by her lawyers.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=33580

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 3 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.