PESHAWAR, Dec 14: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday acquitted the owner of a bookstore and set aside the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to him by a subordinate court in a case of desecration of the Holy Quran.

A bench comprising Justice Tallat Qayyum Qureshi and Justice Dost Mohammad Khan accepted an appeal filed by Abdul Wahid Noorani, owner of Noorani Qutabkhana, and ruled that the prosecution could not prove that the appellant had made deliberate changes in the verses of the Holy Quran.

The appellant was convicted by an additional district and sessions judge on Aug 27 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The complaint was lodged on Jan 25, 1999, with the Qabuli police station by one Mir Hassan Khan of Peshawar, alleging that a book printed by the accused carried various changes in some verses of the Holy Quran.

The prosecution had also sought guidance from Mufti Najmur Rehman of Jamia Usmani, Nauthia. A case was registered against the accused under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.—Bureau Report