Islamabad HC rejects petition for cancellation of case against Salman Taseer’s assassin

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court has set aside an intra-court appeal seeking cancellation of a case against late Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s assassin Mumtaz Qadri, primarily on technical grounds.

A division bench of the IHC maintained that the appeal was not maintainable for hearing, as the appellant- Advocate Zaffar Awan of Chakwal- was not aggrieved in the case.

The court, therefore, upheld the January 20 verdict of Justice Anwar Khan Kasi, which had been challenged by the lawyer, the Dawn reports.

Earlier, Justice Kasi had dismissed Awan’s petition, saying that no citizen could be allowed or encouraged to take the law into his own hands. The alleged blasphemer could have been tried in a court and penalised through a due process of law, the court had observed.

In his appeal, Awan had maintained that police constable Qadri had killed Taseer because no criminal case was registered against the governor for criticising Pakistan’s blasphemy laws in public.

A petition was moved in the Lahore High Court in November last year for the registration of a criminal case against Taseer, but the petition was returned with the observation that the High Court could not proceed against the governor as he enjoyed constitutional immunity, the appellant had maintained.

The IHC division bench had reserved its verdict about the maintainability of the appeal on Tuesday. (ANI)