Blasphemy case: SC to hear Aasia Bibi’s final appeal on 13th

Three-judge bench will take up appeal against death sentence

ISLAMABAD: The top court will take up Aasia Bibi’s final appeal against her death sentence in a blasphemy case on October 13.

Aasia, 51, has been on the death row since November 2010 after being convicted for committing blasphemy during an argument with a Muslim woman in Sheikhupura.

However, her case gained prominence after then Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer pleaded for her retrial and was subsequently shot dead by his guard, Mumtaz Qadri, in January 2011.

The Supreme Court’s three-judge bench, headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman and Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, will take up her appeal.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Aasia’s counsel Saiful Malook said he was conveyed on Thursday night that the case is fixed for hearing on October 13, adding that he is fully prepared to argue the case.

Malook, who was also the prosecutor in the Qadri case, expected that the top court decision will be in favour of Aasia this time.Talking to The Express Tribune, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Ali Zafar expressed concern over the federal government’s failure to do legislation in view of the SC’s last year judgment for ending the misuse of blasphemy law.

He proposed that the investigation into blasphemy case be conducted by an SP level officer and anyone who gives a false statement in this case be awarded the same punishment, ie, death sentence.

The SCBA president said there are different kinds of blasphemies and if someone does a written blasphemy then a different punishment should be given, adding that “if a person is accused of oral blasphemy and later he denies his statement then the person should be declared as innocent”.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2016.