ISLAMABAD: A meeting of a parliamentary panel tasked to discuss the apex court’s verdict in a blasphemy case on Thursday demanded the apex court to review its verdict.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice which met here with Mehmood Bashir Virk deliberated upon the apex court’s verdict with majority of the members pressing for undoing the verdict, saying there is no second opinion about the blasphemy law as defined in the constitution.

The meeting which was held in-camera and was also attended by the law and justice minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, once again called upon the members to go through the apex court’s verdict before reaching any conclusion.

The sources privy to the meeting said that majority of the members belonging to all the parliamentary political parties were unanimous that there would be no compromise in cases involving blasphemy.

They said that the apex court should review its verdict as to err is human, adding “giving bail to a man accused of committing blasphemy is in no way justified or acceptable.”

Last month, the lawmakers – belonging to all political parties had strongly protested in National Assembly against the Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa’s ruling on a blasphemy related case, demanding him to immediately review his ruling.

The National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had referred the matter to the concerned committee of the house with directives to discuss the matter and report back to the house.

This is pertinent to mention that the Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa – in a blasphemy case – had ruled that according to the constitution, “every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion.”

“Freedom of faith is one of the fundamental tenets of Islam. But sadly, in matters of religion, tempers flare up and the Qur’anic mandate is forsaken,” he added.

He also said the book allegedly disseminated by the accused had not been outlawed at the time of the alleged crime in 2019.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024