Blasphemy petition against Sherry Rehman accepted
The petitioner accuses the ambassador of blaspheming on a programme two years ago.
The petitioner accuses the ambassador of blaspheming on a programme two years ago. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The blasphemy issue is still haunting Pakistan’s ambassador to United States Sherry Rehman.
On Thursday, a two-judge apex court bench headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali approved a petition, requesting a case to be registered against Rehman under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), over allegedly committing blasphemy.
The petitioner, Faheem Akhtar Gull, submitted a constitutional petition accusing Rehman of committing blasphemy on Dunya TV’s program "Dunya Meray Aagay" two years ago, and sought the court’s ruling to register a case against her.
The petitioner also alleged that the Multan police refused to lodge a case against Sherry Rehman. After hearing the petition, the bench in a careful manner, directed Multan’s police chief to deal with this matter as per the law.
Gull said that his request was turned down by a lower court and the Lahore High Court Multan bench in which he requested for lodging a First Information Report (FIR) against Rehman.
He also attached decrees of different religious scholars on blasphemy to his petition, but could not identify the specific part from the TV talk show’s transcript where Rehman was wrong.
Gull has been pursuing this case against Sherry Rehman since 2011.
Before her appointment as ambassador, Rehman was one of those parliamentarians who wanted fresh legislation on this issue to stop the misuse of the blasphemy act in Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2013.
The blasphemy issue is still haunting Pakistan’s ambassador to United States Sherry Rehman.
On Thursday, a two-judge apex court bench headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali approved a petition, requesting a case to be registered against Rehman under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), over allegedly committing blasphemy.
The petitioner, Faheem Akhtar Gull, submitted a constitutional petition accusing Rehman of committing blasphemy on Dunya TV’s program "Dunya Meray Aagay" two years ago, and sought the court’s ruling to register a case against her.
The petitioner also alleged that the Multan police refused to lodge a case against Sherry Rehman. After hearing the petition, the bench in a careful manner, directed Multan’s police chief to deal with this matter as per the law.
Gull said that his request was turned down by a lower court and the Lahore High Court Multan bench in which he requested for lodging a First Information Report (FIR) against Rehman.
He also attached decrees of different religious scholars on blasphemy to his petition, but could not identify the specific part from the TV talk show’s transcript where Rehman was wrong.
Gull has been pursuing this case against Sherry Rehman since 2011.
Before her appointment as ambassador, Rehman was one of those parliamentarians who wanted fresh legislation on this issue to stop the misuse of the blasphemy act in Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2013.