SC dismisses bail plea of two suspected in Kot Radha Kishen case

LAHORE:

A Supreme Court bench on Friday dismissed the bail petitions of two men accused of being part of the mob that burnt a Christian man and his wife at a brick kiln in Kot Radha Kishen.

Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, who was heading the two-member bench, and Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the pleas.

Counsel for the petitioners said that Nisar and Akram were only passing by the crime scene and had not taken part in the murder. Even the joint investigation team’s report on the incident says that Nisar and Akram had only shouted slogans and damaged property, the counsel said.

“The two men were passing through when the incident occurred…they had played no part in it,” the counsel said. Earlier, Lahore High Court had granted bail to two of the suspects – Hanif and Tajammul – who said they had been passing from the area, he said.

Justice Chaudhry remarked that it seemed that Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi (who had granted bail) was not aware of the definition of a passer-by. He said the JIT had not mentioned any ‘passers-by’ in its report.

He expressed dismay over the LHC’s decision and said that such decisions, relating to grant of bails because other suspects in the case had got bail, were not satisfactory. He said that the Supreme Court had stopped the practice of granting bails to other suspects on the basis of bails of the co-accused. He said the JIT had clearly mentioned the suspects’ role in inciting violence and damaging property.

As Pakistani citizens it was the suspects’ duty to protect the Christian couple, rather than shouting slogans to incite violence, the judge remarked. The bench heard the counsel’s arguments and examined the record before dismissing the suspects’ bail pleas.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2015.