LAHORE, Oct 31: Legal experts and people from other sections of the society have welcomed a Lahore High Court decision on the procedure of registering cases about outraging religious feelings, saying that the court has rightly elaborated the course of action which the police in particular should adhere to in taking cognizance in such cases. The decision, they hope, will help curb sectarian and religious hatred.

Justice Fazle Miran Chauhan on Monday declared that the offence of outraging the religious feelings of other communities was an offence against the state and a complaint with the police could be lodged only by the federal or provincial governments or an officer authorised by them gave the police the permission to register such a case.

The court, the experts said, had pointed out the procedure of registering such cases under section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code for the offence of ‘deliberate and malicious act of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens by insulting its religious beliefs’ as stipulated by section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, which the police had seldom followed.

Senator Dr Khalid Ranjha, a former minister for law, welcomed the decision saying that the LHC had corrected the procedural matters for the police which had been ignoring the procedure and taking a direct cognizance of such matters which were outside their jurisdiction. He said that there were a large number of offences which were non-cognizable and still the police took cognizance without a legal jurisdiction.

Dr Rajha said the LHC decision was also in line with government policy that the police should be kept away from taking cognizance in offences which were sensitive. He said section 196 CrPC was an administrative law which defined a procedure to maintain an equilibrium and harmony in society. He said that the federal government once thought that all the offences relating to religious and sectarian issues be taken away from the police jurisdiction and this thinking was still there.

The lawyer-senator said there were scores of instances where police sided with one party or the other to malign his or her opponents in cases like blasphemy, hudood and other ‘sensitive’ matters only to settle personal vendetta. Such a practice should stop to ensure social harmony and promote tolerance, he added.

Rights activist Kamila Hayat also praised the LHC decision, saying that it was necessary to remind the police about their powers and jurisdiction. She said that religious and sectarian minorities had always felt insecure in the presence of a majority which was also intolerant. The police, on most of the occasions, supported the majority opinion and thus abetted in the offence against society. She said the LHC had timely pointed out the correct legal procedure which the police and governments had conveniently ignored. The procedure, as laid down in the Cr PC, must be implemented by the police and subordinate courts to ensure peace and harmony in society.

The chairperson of the Pakistan Bar Council’s Free Legal Aid Society, Mohammad Ramzan Chaudhry, said that police were not authorised to take cognizance in such cases and by registering cases under the offence, which carried a punishment of 10 years in prison with or without fine or with both, the police were stepping beyond their legal jurisdiction. He said that unauthorised cognizance of the police in such cases was promoting sectarian and religious hatred. “In this regard the LHC decision was a welcome step in curbing sectarianism.”

He said that religious minorities and other communities were also feeling insecure due to the police highhandedness and the judicial intervention by the LHC would go a long way in maintaining religious and sectarian harmony in the province at least.

Pakistan Christian National Party president Joseph Francis, senior lawyer S M Masood, advocates Abid Sdaqi and Raboiyya Bajwa also expressed similar sentiments about the LHC decision.