RAWALPINDI, Dec 1: The judge of the anti-terrorism court No 1, Manzoor Ahmed Mirza, on Monday accepted for hearing a plea of the counsel of the banned Islami Tehrik Pakistan (ITP) chief, Allama Sajid Naqvi, demanding A class for the arrested leader.

Allama Sajid Naqvi is undergoing a 14-day judicial remand in Adiala Jail.

The Allama’s counsel, Zulfiqar Ali Naqvi, moved an application before the court as the Adiala Jail officials had kept the Allama along with ordinary prisoners.

The counsel, in the plea, requested the court to grant permission to the Allama’s family members to take food for him during his stay in jail.

He contended that Allama Sajid Naqvi could not be kept in C class as “he was not a criminal, but a religious scholar and vice-president of the MMA (Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal)”. He said Allama Sajid Naqvi was an MA and had remained the president of the defunct ITP.

The court, while accepting the application, observed that both the defence and prosecution counsels would present arguments before the judge on Thursday.

An Islamabad-based civil judge on Sunday had remanded the Allama to 14-day judicial remand. The Sihala police had produced the Allama before the civil judge after the completion of his extended six-day physical remand.

Talking to Dawn, Zulfiqar Ali Naqvi said: “Sihala police had presented the Allama before the civil judge who was present in Super Market, Islamabad. We had been told that the Allama would be brought to the court. We waited for the Allama there till 2pm, but, he was not brought.”

ACQUITTED: The additional district and sessions judge, Mohammad Akram Awan, acquitted a man accused of killing his wife after both parties involved in the case reached an out-of-court settlement.