ISLAMABAD:
The family of an old, wealthy man, accused of blasphemy charges, has approached a civil court of Rawalpindi, seeking ownership of his Rs127 million worth of savings and income certificates.
70 year old Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh was booked for blasphemy in 2012 after a complaint against him lodged by his nephew Usman Rashid, accusing him of authoring books in 2001 with alleged blasphemous content.
Before his nephew lodged the complaint, Dr Sheikh had reportedly served a Rs5 billion notice to his nephew in a civil matter.
Additional district and sessions judge Rafaqat Awan acquitted Dr Sheikh on February 2, 2013 from the blasphemy charges.
Following the acquittal, Dr Sheikh along with his family members sought asylum in the United States citing threat to his life as the reason, but his asylum case was not finalised as his children refused to go with him.
His wife, two daughters and son have now petitioned before the civil court in Rawalpindi, seeking ownership of saving and income certificates worth Rs127 million.
According to the petition, Dr Sheikh is a millionaire with “different properties, cash deposits in foreign banks in US and UAE, and he owns regular income certificates and special saving certificates under his name”.
The petition claimed that since his children and wife do not agree with Dr Sheikh’s opinions, they refused to seek asylum with him anywhere as this would be akin to supporting his past blasphemous views.