Blasphemy case: Principal’s bail plea denied

Counsel for the petitioner says principal was merely alleged to have abetted the offence.


Our Correspondent November 04, 2012

LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Anjum Raza Syed has dismissed the after-arrest bail application of the principal of Farooqi Girls High School and sent him back to jail on blasphemy charges. The counsel for the petitioner, Arshad Ali Asim Farooqi, said that the principal was merely alleged to have abetted the offence, not to have played an active role in the commission of the alleged offence. He said his client had provided valuable services in the fields of education and religion. He said the alleged offence was down to the negligence of a teacher and that teacher had been sacked. The prosecution submitted that the principal had been nominated in the FIR and his “active involvement” could not be ruled out. The judge dismissed the bail plea of the accused. An FIR was registered against the principal and teacher under Section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code last Wednesday on the complaint of Abdullah Saqib, the vice principal of Jamia Kareemia Sadidia, a madrassa in the same area as the Farooqi Girls High School. A day earlier, hundreds of violent protesters stormed the school, set fire to a car and a few buildings and clashed with police and emergency services.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2012.

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