MULTAN, Nov 22: The Lahore High Court, Multan bench, on Friday changed a petition of Maulana Masood Azhar for transfer of an under-trial case from Dera Ghazi Khan to Bahawalpur into an annulment appeal.

The banned Jaish-i-Muhammad chief was charged by the B-Division police of Dera under MPO-16 for instigating people for jihad against India during a public meeting on Aug 27, 2001. Later, the public meeting turned into a procession which was illegal under the law.

The Jaish chief was chargesheeted in a civil court of Dera. In the meanwhile, the Maulana was detained in Bahawalpur after the Sept 11 incident and a shift in the official policy towards jehadi outfits.

When the Dera’s civil court started summoning the Maulana for trial, he filed a petition with the Multan bench to shift the trial in Bahawalpur as it was impossible for him to appear before court in Dera during detention.

Changing the status of the petition into quashment appeal, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry expressed his surprise over the institution of the case against the Maulana for ‘calling people for jihad’.

The court directed the civil judge/judicial magistrate concerned to stop hearing the case forthwith and ordered the B-Division SHO to present the complete record of the case before court in the second week of January.

WEATHER: Local Met office has forecast a partly cloudy weather during the next 24 hours in Multan and suburbs.