September 23, 2002	Monday	Rajab 15, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 22: The Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, has sent the case of Dr Mohammad Younas, a lecturer of a homeopathic college who was awarded death sentence on blasphemy charge, to the LHC chief justice after coming to divergent conclusions about the sentence.

The division bench, comprising Justice Bashir A. Mujahid and Justice Mian Jehangir, heard the appeal against the death sentence awarded by the Islamabad additional sessions judge on Aug 18, 2001.

Justice Mujahid, senior member of the bench, was of the view that sufficient evidence was not produced to establish the case of blasphemy beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt.

Justice Jehangir, however, held the view that conviction was rightly recorded and a case under Section 295(c) of Pakistan Penal Code had been proved.

Under the rules, the chief justice has two options, either to place the case before a three-member bench or send the matter to another judge for his decisive opinion.

The Section 295(c) was amended in 1992 by the Nawaz Sharif government on the demand of religious organizations, deleting the proviso under which life imprisonment could also be awarded to an accused and providing mandatory death sentence.

A leader of the Majlis Tahafuz Khatam-i-Nabuwat, Maulana Abdur Rauf, had reported to Islamabad police on Oct 2, 2000, that Dr Younas, while delivering a lecture at the Islamabad Homeopathic College, G-9, had made blasphemous remarks.

The accused denied the charge.