LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Wednesday issued bailable warrants for the arrest of singer Bilal Saeed for not appearing in the trial proceedings of a case of alleged desecration of Wazir Khan mosque.
Earlier, the counsel for Saeed and actor Saba Qamar filed applications for exemption from personal appearance. He told the court that the actor had gone to the UAE for professional assignments and would return by March 31.
The counsel further said that Saeed could not appear due to illness.
A prosecutor opposed the exemption applications saying no medical certificate was produced on behalf of Saeed and Ms Qamar went abroad without the court permission. He said the suspects intentionally avoided their appearance to delay their indictment.
Magistrate Sarwat Batool allowed one-time exemption to Ms Qamar while dismissed the application of Saeed and issued his bailable arrest warrants for appearance on next hearing.
On the last hearing, the magistrate had dismissed the acquittal applications of the duo.
The Akbari Gate police had registered an FIR against the duo under section 295 of PPC following a court direction to act on an application of a lawyer as per law and decide whether a cognisable offence was made out.
Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2022
