The Supreme Court on Thursday accepted the federal government’s appeal to expunge controversial paragraphs from the contentious Mubarak Sani case verdict, which had triggered nationwide protests from religious groups.
The order was issued by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justices Irfan Saadat Khan and Naeem Akhtar Afghan, who heard the twin pleas of the center and the Punjab government seeking amendments to the top court’s verdict of Feb. 6.
In its February order, the top court had overturned the conviction of blasphemy accused Sani, who sought deletion of certain charges framed against him in the case filed under the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing and Recording) (Amendment) Act. The ruling had noted that the cited offense was not criminalized until 2021, after Sani’s arrest, and had set it aside and ordered his immediate release. However, the order drew controversy over some portions, which religious groups claimed ran counter to the 2nd Amendment, which had declared Ahmadis non-Muslims.
Consequently, the Punjab government had filed a review petition under Article 188 of the Constitution. However, the top court had ruled that the initial order did not deviate from earlier decisions of the Federal Shariat Court and the Supreme Court in approving the bail plea of Sani.
With religious groups mounting outrage, the matter had ended up before the National Assembly, where both opposition and treasury lawmakers directed the federal government to file a fresh review petition in the Supreme Court.
In its short order, the apex court said it was excluding the offending paragraphs from the verdict, adding they could not be cited as precedent in any future judgment.
Earlier, during today’s hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Usman Awan informed the court that Parliament and some religious leaders had called for a review of the top court’s July 24 verdict. Noting that this was a unique situation, Awan said the government had approached the court in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure.
“If we make a mistake, it should be corrected,” observed the CJP, apologizing for not paying sufficient attention to documents provided by Mufti Taqi Usmani during the initial hearing of the case. He then urged the cleric, who was attending the proceedings via video-link from Turkiye, to identify the original verdict’s “mistakes.” The court also heard from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has been a vocal critic of the ruling.
In his testimony, Usmani sought the deletion of paragraphs 7 and 42 from the July 24 verdict, as well as amending of a part in which the court accepted to omit the charges against the accused. In paragraph 42, he said, the right to preach was highlighted, which appeared to grant “unconditional permission” to Sani to do so. Fazl, similarly, supported Usmani’s arguments and called for a revision of the entire verdict. “If you think Mubarak Sani deserves to be bailed then it is a different matter but all charges must be retained against his blasphemous actions,” he told the bench, adding Sani’s trial should proceed as per recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology.
After the favorable verdict, Fazl announced to media that religious groups would observe Friday (Aug. 23) as “thanksgiving day” to celebrate the ruling.