The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday restrained a trial court from proceeding with Rimsha Masih’s blasphemy case till Monday.
IHC Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman issued fresh notices to the station house officer of Ramna Police Station, the investigation officer and the complainant, Hammad Malik, after their counsel said they had not received the previous notices.
The chief justice responded by saying that the notices had been served to all the respondents. However, the assistant judicial registrar informed the court that the petitioner had not submitted the special messenger’s fee. The court then passed the order and adjourned the case till October 1.
Earlier, the court had issued notices to the respondents, seeking complete records pertaining to the case by September 28.
The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Abdul Hameed Rana, had moved a petition seeking nullification of an FIR registered against Rimsha on blasphemy charges, contending that the case was based on mala fide intentions.
On September 24, Rimsha’s case was sent to a juvenile court after a medical report established that she was 14 years old. The girl was arrested on August 16 for allegedly burning a primer, a booklet used to familiarise children with Arabic as written in the Quran.
The Ramna Police Station had registered a case against her after a restless mob led by a cleric assembled outside the station.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2012.
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"TO JUDGE solely by its high number of blasphemy cases, Pakistan seems to be a nation of wanton profanity where the Koran is routinely desecrated and the prophet Muhammad insulted. Yet given that the crime of blasphemy is punishable by death, that 97% of Pakistanis are Muslim, and that the remainder are an intimidated and largely impoverished sliver, then the country’s many blasphemy cases more obviously represent an abuse of both religion and the law."
The above quote from the "Economist" London, sums up everything.