CHAKWAL: The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has freed a man who was sentenced to death over blasphemy allegations five years ago.

The accused, a Talagang resident who had also been awarded 10- year jail term and fined Rs 200,000 by a lower court, was acquitted after the LHC accepted his appeal on Friday.

A detailed verdict is expected to be announced in a couple of days.

The accused is a Pir or spiritual leader who amassed a large following. He was settled in the US where he worked as a cleric. He returned to his hometown in 2009.

The man’s rivals launched a campaign against him and Asad Ullah, a government employee, accused him of committing blasphemy in July 2009.

Police booked the man under sections 295A and 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code and thus began a tough ordeal, not only for the accused but also for his family, relatives and friends.

Members of the local bar association announced that no lawyer would take up his case. “We had to hire a lawyer from Islamabad to apply for bail, but our request was rejected by the additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ),” an associate of the Pir told Dawn.

Due to uneasy and charged environment surrounding the case, then ADSJ of Talagang Mehdi Khan transferred the case to the district and sessions judge of Chakwal.

The case finally came to ADSJ Sajid Awan who completed the hearings, but before announcing the verdict wrote to the LHC chief justice requesting him to refer the case elsewhere due to security concerns.

The court then referred the case to ADSJ Mumtaz Hussain of Jhelum, who conducted the trial inside Adiala Jail and announced verdict on Jan 30, 2012.

Advocate Chaudhry Mehmood Akhtar, the counsel for the accused, filed an appeal before the LHC Rawalpindi bench, pleading that his client was innocent and allegations against him were false.

“I took up the case after thoroughly examining different aspects of it. Once I was sure that my client had not committed blasphemy, only then did I decide to take up the case,” Mr Akhtar said. “It is very easy to level blasphemy allegations against anyone, which can destroy the lives of the accused and their families.”

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2017