IHC reserves judgment in Faizabad sit-in case

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court Wednesday reserved its verdict in Faizabad interchange sit-in case after completion of arguments by the parties.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui reserved the judgment when counsels for the litigants and scholars appointed as amicus curiae to render their assistance to the court in the case, completed their arguments.

Deputy Attorney General (DAG), Arshad Mehmood Kayani submitted proceedings of 276th Session of the Senate along with lists of Senators who attended it during the amendment in Elections Act 2017 dated 22-9-2017 in a sealed envelop.

Justice Siddiqui had rem-arked that “the court wants to see who voted in favour and against the bill, adding that the record should be admitted in a sealed envelope just for his own information not to influence the legislation”.

Data of the population of the Ahmadis/Qadianis surfaced in all census since 1947 along with travel history of almost 6000 persons who obtained fresh passports after change in column of religion were also submitted before the bench by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Professor Dr. Hafiz Hassan Madni, Institute of Islamic Studies, University of the Punjab Lahore, Dr. Mohsin Naqvi, Ex-Member, Council of Islamic Ideology, Professor Dr. Sahibzada Sajid ur Rehman, Member, Council Islamic Ideology and Mufti Muhammad Hussain Khalil Khel, Aslam Khaki religious scholar, and Mualana Allah Wasaya assisted the court in the following question placed by the bench.

1. Whether a Muslim state could make any law which allow a non Muslim to pretend himself as Muslim.
2. Whether a Muslim State can allow a non Muslim to pretend as Muslim?
3. If a person did so then this act of his would not came under the definition of cheating.
4. If someone did so then what responsibility would be raised towards the state.
5. Is it not duty of the state to know about the religion of its citizens?
6. Is it violation of fundamental right of a citizen to know his religion?.

Senator Raja Zafar-ul-Haq led committee inquiry report regarding the alleged controversy in the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath in the Elections Act 2017 had also been submitted before the bench on February 20.

DAG and Raja Rizwan Abbasi counsel for the petitioner submitted their written arguments before the bench.

Justice Suddiqui remarked that “we are not against the rights of minorities but concealing facts regarding religion to get benefits is a cheating with the state and the constitution of the country.

However, the bench cleared that no notice was issued to Speaker National Assembly in the case, we just sought some information from the state counsel, he added.

Subsequently, the court reserved the judgment and remarked that court would announce it in an open court on March 9.

On November 6, 2017 workers of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and activists of religious groups camped at the Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad against the hastily-abandoned change in the oath of elected representatives, virtually paralysing the twin cities for more than two weeks.

Police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel had launched an operation against the protesters after the high court had ordered the clearance of the bridge that connects the federal capital with Rawalpindi.