LAHORE, July 27: A local additional district and sessions judge on Saturday awarded death penalty and a fine of Rs200,000 to an accused under Section 295-C PPC for committing blasphemy against the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).
Judge Sardar Ahmad Naeem based the conviction on the “extra judicial confession” by accused Wajihul Hassan, 26, in front of two prosecution witnesses.
The court also convicted Wajih to 10 years RI and fined him Rs50,000 under Section 295-A PPC (deliberate malicious act intended to outrage the feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).
Wajih was given three years RI and fined Rs20,000 under Section 298-A PPC (use of derogatory remarks in respect of holy personages).
Wajihul Hassan, a graduate from Kot Abdul Malik, Sheikhupura district, allegedly wrote letters to advocate Mohammad Ismail Qureshi, the complainant, containing derogatory remarks against the Prophet(PBUH). The complainant, however, burnt the letters out of anger.
According to the prosecution, Mr Qureshi received another series of five letters in 1998, followed by some obnoxious phone calls. However, according to the complainant, Wajih could not be traced although he kept making obnoxious calls.
The complainant lodged an FIR with the Allama Iqbal Town police upon the order of Justice Riaz Kayani on March 21, 1999.
Wajih joined a steelworks factory in Lahore and worked there for six months before he left.
According to the prosecution, Wajih went to the house of Mohammad Waseem, the manager of the steelworks factory, on May 25, 2001, where Waseem’s friend Mohammad Naveed was also present.
Wajih, as penned in the FIR, confessed before the two people that he had been writing letters containing derogatory remarks against the Prophet(PBUH) and been making obnoxious calls to the complainant. He requested both the persons to get him pardoned by the complainant.
Both Wasim and Naveed produced Wajih before the Allama Iqbal Town police who started investigation against the accused. The challan was initially submitted before an anti-terrorism court on Aug 8, 2001, but the case was later transferred to the sessions court owing an amendment to the ATA, 1997.
The prosecution produced 11 witnesses in support of its case while no defence witness was produced by the convict. The accused, in his statement before the court, stated that one day factory manager Waseem, along with his friends Naveed and Mustafa, took him to a house in Lahore Cantt and detained him there for 15.
“They tortured me when I refused to testify that some letters have been written by human rights activist Asma Jehangir to the complainant,” he said.
Hassan said he was driven to the Allama Iqbal Town police station where complainant Ismail Qureshi was already present. “Mr Qureshi wanted me to name Asma Jehangir as culprit for writing certain letters.”
The court in its judgment observed that accused had made an extra-judicial confession before Waseem and Naveed appearing as the first two prosecution witnesses. According to the court, the witnesses had no grudge against Wajih and were not related to the complainant as well. The court observed that Wajih had confessed to writing sacrilegious letters and making obnoxious calls to Mr Qureshi besides disclosing that he had been absconding a blasphemy case.
“The convict has not cross-examined the two prosecution witnesses regarding his extra-judicial confession which amounts to his admission to this extent,” the court observed, adding the findings of a hand writing expert had further supported the case of the prosecution.
In the final part of the verdict, the court observed that conviction of an accused could be based on his voluntary confession. The court was of the view that the Sunnat of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) bore a testimony to a conviction based on a confession. According to the court the fact that the convict had remained absconding for 14 months after the registration of the FIR had also weakened his case.