Pakistan

LHC summons PM over plea against printing of ‘altered’ Holy Quran

Published

2 months ago

September 27, 2023

Admin

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) summoned in person the caretaker prime minister and Punjab chief minister on Wednesday in response to the government’s “non-serious” and “uncooperative” attitude of the federal and provincial governments over a plea challenging the publication of the Holy Quran without the permission of the Quran Board.

“This is not a case for this court or any one [person], but all of us,” remarked LHC’s Justice Shujaat Ali Khan.

Justice Shujaat’s remarks came while hearing a plea seeking the implementation of the court’s earlier orders. Besides Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan has also been summoned by the court on October 16.

Petitioner Hassan Moavia has sought action against those responsible, contending that he went from pillar to post but the concerned quarters have done nothing except acting as silent spectators.

As proceedings commenced, the judge got irked on being told that the federal government had not submitted a report regarding the matter despite repeatedly being directed to. Expressing displeasure over eight months having been passed, Justice Shujaat asked what the officers have been up to during this time.

“This court is left with no option other than to summon the chief executives,” he said.

To this, the federal government’s counsel sought a last opportunity to submit the report. However, the court snubbed the counsel. “It appears that the concerned officials have not placed the matter before the PM,” Justice Shujaat remarked.

During the hearing, Additional Inspector General Police Shehzada Sultan told the court that they have limited powers. At this, Justice Shujaat responded that, “Everyone knows how much you people act upon your powers.”

Previous proceedings

At the last hearing, the petitioner had sought the implementation on certain directions of the court in an earlier judgment passed over a petition, restraining the Ahmaddiya community from allegedly publishing the Holy Quran against its original text and translation, and using the names of Muslim authors.

Read Ahmadi worship place vandalised by unknown men in Karachi

Petitioner Hassan Moavia had claimed the Ahmaddiya community was sending the copies of the altered Holy Quran abroad.

Court’s directions

The court had issued 18 directions to the authority concerned. The court observed that, “The federal as well as the provincial government shall ensure availability of a standard copy of Holy Qur’an along-with its literal meaning, at Federal, Provincial, District and Tehsil levels, duly approved by the respective Qur’an Boards to use it as a specimen to determine as to whether any subsequent publication qualifies the test of authenticity of original text of Holy Quran and its literal meaning or not.”

It further maintained that, “The Federal as well as Provincial government shall take steps to ensure that only the printers/publishers, authorized by the Qur’an Board, are allowed to print Holy Qur’an and other religious books of the Muslims. Further, the authorized printers/publishers be bound down to give specific Bar/QR code as well as distinct serial number against each copy of every religious book, in particular the Holy Qur’an, to know the authenticity of the said book and to fix responsibility in case of any omission/commission on the part of any publisher/printer. Furthermore, each page of the Holy Qur’an be embossed with name of the publisher/company in order to eliminate the possibility of replacement of any page at subsequent stage.

“In view of the ever-increasing importance of the Information Technology, the Federal Government, in collaboration with other stakeholders, in particular the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) shall take measures that the search engines/websites showing proscribed religious material are blocked. Further, only the websites which are registered with the PTA and possess certificate from the Qur’an Board regarding authenticity of the religious material, in particular the Holy Qur’an, be allowed to display online Holy Qur’an and other religious books of the Muslims. Moreover, all other unregistered websites, displaying such religious material against its original text and literal meaning, be blocked forthwith. For the purpose, the Federal as well as the Provincial Government shall display at conspicuous places, in particular the web portals owned and operated by the government, the registered/approved websites for information of the public-at-large.

“The Federal Government shall ensure that the e-copy of Holy Qur’an, duly approved by the Qur’an Board, is available at Google Play Store, App Store and Windows Store etc. for reference. Further, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take up the matter with the managers/owners/operators of the application stores to remove every application containing unauthentic text of the Holy Qur’an and other religious books of Muslims.

“Every printer/publisher be bound down to put a certificate at the end of each copy of Holy Qur’an to the effect that the same is 100% compliant with the copy approved by the Qur’an Board. Moreover, the contact numbers (telephone, e-mail id & Facebook id etc.) of the Qur’an Board should be available on each and every copy of the Holy Qur’an to facilitate the reader to highlight any issue relating to printing and publication of religious material of Muslims in particular the Holy Qur’an.”

Related Topics:altered holy LHC plea printing Quran summons

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Pakistan

Ahad Cheema acquitted in NAB reference

Published

17 mins ago

December 9, 2023

Admin

LAHORE:

An accountability court on Friday acquitted Ahad Cheema, the special assistant to the caretaker prime minister, in assets beyond means reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Accountability Judge Ali Zulqarnain had reserved the ruling on the acquittal plea after hearing arguments of the NAB prosecutor and the defence counsel earlier in the day. Cheema also appeared before the court during the proceedings.

On Nov 27, in a supplementary report, NAB informed the court that Cheema’s assets were consistent with his known income, asserting that properties held by alleged benamidars/relatives were not his. Based on evidence, the case under NAO, 1999, was not substantiated, it added.

Read Three PM aides fail to submit asset statements

Cheema had served as the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general during the PML-N government in Punjab. The bureau had arrested Cheema in 2018 when he appeared before a joint investigation team in connection with the Ashiana-e-Iqbal Housing Scheme case.

Later, NAB initiated assets beyond means and other inquiries against him. However, Cheema obtained bail in three cases, including assets beyond means case in 2021.

Pakistan

Bilawal consults legal minds on ZAB reference

Published

1 hour ago

December 9, 2023

Admin

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday consulted legal minds of his party on the presidential reference case of his late grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The development came during a meeting of central and provincial officials as well as legal experts of the Peoples Lawyers Forum (PLF) at Zardari House here. Bilawal chaired the meeting.

During the meeting, the PLF officials briefed Bilawal on the presidential reference case of ZAB. Farooq H Naik and Shahadat Awan participated in the meeting through video link while Qazi Bashir, Bahram Khan Tareen, Raheel Kamran Cheema, Sajid Tanoli, Gohar Rehman Khattak, Ghiyasul Haque and Asrar Abbasi were present.

Read Bhutto murder reference to be heard after 11 years

Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Faisal Karim Kundi, Raza Rabbani and Amna Paracha were also present in the meeting.
Meanwhile, a civil society delegation also met with Bilawal and discussed the challenges faced by the masses and their solutions.
Bilawal appreciated the delegation for their services and performance in their respective fields.

Ahmed Faraz Khan Advocate, Barrister Saifullah Ghori, Bilal Tariq Khan, Dr Abdul Mohiman, Dr Maria Hamid, Dr Salma Malik, Faheem Sardar, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir, Huma Fawad, Jahanzeb Durrani and Kanwal Malik were among those who met the PPP chairman.

Lubna Bhayat, SM Tariq, Javed Akhtar, Pir Mohammad Anwar, Junaid, Raja Mohammad Khan, Sania Kamran, Shehbaz Zaheer, Shamamata Al Ambararbab, Buland Sohail, Kashaf Ahmed, Talha Rahmani, Osama Malik, Usman Iqbal Bandal and Yusuf Masih were part of the delegation. PPP Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi was also present on this occasion.

Pakistan

SC to take up appeals against military trial verdict on Dec 13

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2023

Admin

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court is set to take up high-profile cases in the coming week, including the appeals against its verdict in the trial of civilians in military courts and pleas filed by Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi.

A Supreme Court larger bench will hear on Dec 13 the intra-court appeals against its judgment in the case of civilians being tried in military courts. The appeals have been filed by the caretaker governments and the defence ministry.

On Oct 23, a five-judge bench of the SC unanimously declared the trial of civilians in military courts as null and void and ordered that the 103 accused in cases relating to the violence on May 9 and 10 be tried under ordinary criminal laws.

Moreover, Justice Naqvi, who is facing complaints of misconduct, recently wrote a letter to the top court’s three senior-most judges’ panel to point out the silence over his petitions challenging the issuance of a show-cause notice to him by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) despite the lapse of time as stipulated in the SC (Practice & Procedure) Act, 2023.

A three-judge bench, comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Musarrat Hilali, will hear his petitions on December 15.

A nine-member larger bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa will take up a presidential reference for revisiting the judgment wherein the death sentence of PPP founder and former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was endorsed.

The bench will conduct its proceedings in courtroom No. 1 on December 12. These decisions were made by the SC three-member committee comprising CJP Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

The other high-profile cases that will be tackled by the SC in the coming week include the evacuation of illegal Afghan residents, reclassification of commercial land in Karachi, and reinstatement of the FIR against PTI leader Moonis Elahi.

Read Punjab govt moves SC against military trials verdict

The top court has scheduled the hearing for petitions challenging the evacuation of foreign nationals, especially Afghan citizens, residing unlawfully in the country.

A three-judge bench, comprising Justice Masood, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ayesha Malik, will hear these pleas on December 12.

Farhatullah Babar, Mushtaq Ahmed, Amina Masood Janjua, Mohsin Dawar, Jibran Nasir, Syed Muaz Shah, Pastor Ghazala Parveen, Imaan Zainab Mazari, Ahmad Shabbar, Advocate Imran Shafiq, Luke Victor, Sijal Shafiq, and Rohail Kasi are contesting the evacuation orders.

In a separate case, the dismissal of a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) case against PTI’s Moonis by a special judge in Lahore and then the upholding of that decision by the Lahore High Court, has been challenged in the SC.

The FIA has filed an appeal against the dismissal, leading to a review in the apex court.

Moreover, the SC, previously deliberating on the powers of the caretaker government, directed the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) to assist the court in forming a larger bench to interpret its authority.

In addition, review petitions challenging the decision on the reclassification of land in Karachi to commercial status will be heard in the coming week as well. A three-judge bench, led by Justice Ahsan, is scheduled to hear the matter on December 11.

The court has issued notices to all relevant parties, including the Sindh government, following its earlier ruling invalidating the conversion of public land into residential and commercial categories.

These petitions stem from a challenge initiated in 2010 by former Karachi nazim Niamatullah Khan against the alteration of public land’s categorisation.

A five-judge bench, led by CJP Isa, will also take up on December 14 former Islamabad High Court judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui’s petition against his removal.

It is expected that the proceedings of both Bhutto and the ex-IHC judge’s cases will be available on the SC website.