The Supreme Court of Pakistan has overruled the life imprisonment sentence given to Khuda Bakhsh by a high court. He was accused of burning pages of the Quran and throwing them in a nullah. The court found Khuda Bakhsh innocent of the charges and acquitted him from the case, ordering his release.
A three member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa alongside Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood took up the case for hearing on Monday.
During the course of hearing, Shakil Ahmad Advocate appeared in the court on behalf of accused while Additional Prosecutor General Balochistan Tahir Khattak assisted the state.
Expressing concern over the judgments of the high court and the trials court, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa remarked, “The lower courts have ruled against the accused without any evidence being submitted against him. As per the law, a punishment is awarded after the offence is proved according to the requirements of the law. The allegation of burning the Holy Quran could not be proved against the accused.”
Justice Khosa remarked, “If pages of the holy Quran become old, it is said in several areas of the country that they should be burnt, and in several areas it is said that should be put in flowing water. Maybe the accused had learnt from his elders that the pages should be burnt. Acting upon this method, he may have burnt old pages of the Quran. Awarding life imprisonment without seeing or hearing the accused is not correct.”
“There is no room in our religion for those who are involved in desecrating the Quran but an innocent person cannot be awarded life imprisonment merely on the basis of allegations,” Justice Dost said.
