Safdar exempted from personal appearance

Counsel for Captain (retd) Safdar submits application, seeks exemption owing to heavy rains in Mansehra

LAHORE:

A judicial magistrate, accepting application for exemption from personal appearance of Cap (retd) Muhammad Safdar, allegedly involved in delivering hate speech, fixed December 14 for further proceedings.

As proceedings commenced, the counsel of captain retired Muhammad Safdar submitted an application seeking exemption from personal appearance of the aforementioned accused owing to heavy rains at Mansehra where he lived.

To which the magisterial court accepting the application fixed next date for further arguments.

In previous proceedings, the accused counsel had implored the court that police acted with mala fide intention.

He pointed out that the police initially lodged FIR under section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and later inserted sections 124 and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in it.

He said the case against his client was nothing but a result of “political victimization”. He argued that the case was false, frivolous and politically motivated.

He said the police concocted the whole story only to implicate his client in the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2023.