CHAKWAL: The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has acquitted a man sentenced to death over blasphemy charges, after accepting his appeal on Friday.
The accused was a Talagang resident and had also been given a 10- year jail term and fined Rs 200,000 by a lower court.
He was set free on Friday after the LHC accepted his appeal.
A detailed verdict is likely to follow in a few days.
“We had to hire a lawyer from Islamabad to apply for bail, but our request was rejected by the additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ),” an associate of the accused man told reporters.
Advocate Chaudhry Mehmood Akhtar, the counsel for the accused, finally took up the case and filed an appeal before the LHC court pleading for his client’s innocence.
“I took up the case after thoroughly examining different aspects of it. Once I was sure that my client had not committed blasphemy, only then did I decide to take up the case,” Mr Akhtar said. “It is very easy to level blasphemy allegations against anyone, which can destroy the lives of the accused and their families.”