Safdar exempted from personal appearance

Judicial magistrate accepts exemption plea in hate speech case

LAHORE:

A judicial magistrate, on Friday, accepted the application for exemption from personal appearance of Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, who is allegedly involved in delivering a hate speech.

The magistrate fixed July 25 for further arguments on an application submitted by the police to quash the FIR.

As the proceedings commenced, the counsel of Safdar submitted an application seeking exemption from personal appearance for the aforementioned accused.

The counsel argued that due to some prior engagements, the accused could not appear before the court.

The magisterial court accepted the application and scheduled the next date for further arguments. During the previous proceedings, the accused's counsel implored the court, claiming that the police had acted with mala fide intentions. He pointed out that the police initially lodged an FIR under Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) .

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2023.