ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) will announce its judgement on a 2014 appeal filed by Aasiya Bibi, a Christian woman condemned to death on blasphemy charges, today.
According to a supplementary cause list issued by the SC, the verdict will be announced by a special bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar at 9 am.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel will be the other members of the three-judge bench.
On October 8, the bench had reserved its verdict on Aasiya’s final legal appeal against execution. The appeal challenges the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) October 2014 ruling of upholding a trial court’s November 2010 decision of sentencing the woman to death for committing blasphemy.
It is pertinent to note that while reserving the verdict, the chief justice, in a short order, had said that no media would print or disseminate comments over the case till pronouncement of the final verdict.
On the day the court reserved its judgment, Saiful Malook, counsel for Aasiya Bibi, had argued that the appellant had not committed blasphemy and was being “persecuted due to her religious beliefs”.
Representing the complainant before the bench, Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry had contended that nothing could be cited in the investigation and cross-examination before a court of law, which was denial of occurrence of a blasphemous act.