ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday granted bail to a cleric charged with uploading a viral video containing derogatory, contemptuous and scandalous language against the institution of the judiciary and judges, especially Supreme Court's Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamer Farooq heard Agha Iftikharud Din's petition seeking post-arrest bail. He has contended that he never even thought of disrespecting the judiciary but was implicated in a false case.
He said he was a cardiac patient and might be released till the decision in the pending trial. The court order said: "The petition is allowed and the petitioner is admitted to bail, subject to furnishing bail bonds in the sum of Rs1,000,000/- (Rupees one million) with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court." The order said the concession of bail granted through this order would stand recalled, if the petitioner repeated the acts, which had been alleged in the FIR or that objectionable material was uploaded on the social media or made public through any other means.
Needless to mention that this assessment is tentative, which shall not affect trial of this case in any manner. Iftikharud Din's counsel told the bench that the contempt proceedings were also pending against his client in Supreme Court for uploading material on the social media, which tends to bring the authority of the courts and the administration of justice into disrespect and disrepute.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed took suo motu notice of the viral video. Later, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested the cleric, and registered an FIR against him under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
The investigation report explained that the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used by the cleric and his accomplice for uploading the video had been traced, and the concerned Internet Service Providers (ISPs) approached to provide the subscribers detail of the internet devices through which the IP addresses were accessed.
During the course of investigation, the two suspects, Mirza and Akbar, were arrested from whom mobile phones, a movie camera, and a laptop were recovered, and sent for forensic analysis. According to the FIA, the cleric has owned the contents of the video, and stated that his responsibility was to preach Islamic teachings.
Besides, he admitted that he had been running a web TV since 2017 in one of the rooms of his residence. His accomplice, Akbar recorded his lectures and uploaded/managed his YouTube channel and Facebook page, the report said. Mirza moved his bail petition through Sarkar Abbas, Shabbir Ahmed Mirza, and Asim Mumtaz, advocates.
He stated that the allegations against the petitioner were regarding uploading of objectionable material and it was alleged that he had attempted to incite violence against a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, and thus, putting his life at risk.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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