A Muslim man convicted of blasphemy by a trial court was granted bail by the Supreme Court the other day, after the defence lawyer informed the top court that the complainant had added certain words to the original FIR [First Information Report] against his client after some time in order to bring the case in line with the requirements of an offence punishable under the blasphemy laws.
According to details, Murawat Hussain was booked under Section 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code for allegedly expressing words against the spouse of the last Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and was sentenced to three years imprisonment of which he has already served 11 months.
Section 298-A punishes people with imprisonment of three years and a fine for using derogatory remarks against the wives or other family members of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the four righteously-guided caliphs, or the other companions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
During the hearing, Hussain’s lawyer Zafar Abbas Naqvi submitted before a two-member bench headed by Justice Dost Muhammad Khan that the complainant gave no reasons at the time when the FIR was originally lodged but later added certain words to the complaint through a supplementary statement. The counsel also stated that there was no evidence that the petitioner had made a departure from the doctrines of Islam, “as evident from the record”. The petitioner is a good Muslim, he added.
The counsel went on to say that what the petitioner allegedly stated was in good faith based on sayings of the prophet as quoted in ‘Sahih al-Bukhari’, therefore, the offence for which the petitioner was charged, was neither constituted nor established.
The bench granted leave to appeal to consider the legal and factual aspects of the case.
The counsel appealed to the court that rather than leaving the petitioner to serve out his sentence waiting for his appeal hearing, the court may take notice of the new emerging situation to grant the petitioner interim bail.
The bench then suspended the convict’s sentence and granted him bail.