LAHORE, Pakistan — A high court desire in Pakistan resigned remaining week after a media file uncovered his alleged close ties with a criminal gang falsely charging Christians and others with blasphemy, sources said.
Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz of the Lahore High Court docket (LHC) on March 6 sent his resignation to President Asif Ali Zardari citing “non-public reasons” for stepping down and asking for its instantaneous acceptance. He used to be appointed as an LHC desire in November 2016.
Quite so much of legal professionals, including Christian attorneys pondering about defending persons accused of blasphemy, expressed reduction on the desire’s resignation as they shared with Christian Day-to-day Worldwide–Morning Star News how he pressured them for the duration of conditions.
A Muslim legal genuine said on condition of anonymity that correct days earlier than the controversial desire sent his resignation, Aziz had issued a protect repeat in opposition to any conceivable detrimental action per a file of the Nationwide Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) on blasphemy conditions.
Sajid Iqbal Lashari, an workplace-bearer of the Tahaffuz-i-Khatam-i-Nabuwwat Forum (Movement for Protection of Finality of Prophethood) had challenged the NCHR file in Aziz’s court. The file pointed to the dearth of due activity in blasphemy conditions, including important procedural violations at so much of phases.
It urged formation of a Joint Investigation Crew (JIT) by plan of the Ministry of Human Rights comprising of officers from the Particular Branch of the Police, Intelligence Bureau, Ministries of Legislation, Interior, Federal Investigation Company (FIA), and numerous relevant departments to tackle the blasphemy conditions. The NCHR file known as for stern disciplinary proceedings in opposition to the FIA officers pondering about illegal arrests or soliciting bribes whereas noting the shocking leniency of the FIA in direction of the deepest entities and particular person complainants in the wait on of so much of blasphemy conditions.
“I assume that Aziz used to be compelled to step down attributable to the mounting global rigidity on the country’s civil-defense power establishment to grab measures in opposition to the blatant violations of human rights in Pakistan, in particular the steep rise in false blasphemy conditions in the remaining couple of years,” the anonymous Muslim legal genuine educated Christian Day-to-day Worldwide-Morning Star News.
The need’s alleged hyperlink with the “blasphemy industry gang” used to be published in an investigative file by Fact Focus, an online sigh banned by authorities in Pakistan. In accordance with the file, Aziz had a long historical previous of blasphemy activism with legal genuine Rao Abdul Rahim, alleged mastermind of the “blasphemy industry community.”
The two legal professionals devour been pondering about fabricating a blasphemy case in opposition to 11-year-outdated Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl from Islamabad, in August 2012, essentially based on Fact Focus. No topic the truth that a judicial inquiry proved the case in opposition to Rimsha used to be totally false, Aziz used to be appointed as a high court desire inside four years, the file added.
The Fact Focus file asserted that many blasphemy-connected conditions devour been assigned to Aziz in the Lahore High Court docket. Citing a blasphemy case of a Muslim suspect, Ahmed Satti, the file said that Aziz unnecessarily held the bail rejection repeat for four months earlier than not directly rejecting Satti’s bail. Sooner or later the Supreme Court docket dominated on the same case that no cloth had been equipped to hyperlink the petitioner to the alleged offenses and granted him bail.
In April 2023, Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court docket (IHC) vital the malicious and suspicious activities in the Cybercrime Wing of the FIA and ordered it to quit work on the conditions falling beneath the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and focal point totally on matters connected to electronic crimes, essentially based on the file.
“As an different of hard this repeat in the IHC or taking it to the Supreme Court docket, the blasphemy industry gang over again brought the topic earlier than Justice Aziz who, as anticipated, directed the FIA to resume work on PPC conditions, effectively bypassing the judgment of the IHC with out offering any obvious rationale,” it added.
The file went on to order that after Islamabad police devour been nearing the conclusion of their investigation in opposition to legal genuine Rahim in the ruin case of falsely accused Abdullah Shah, Rahim filed a petition earlier than Aziz complaining that the FIA, which had already been working carefully with him, used to be not neatly investigating blasphemy conditions. Rahim requested that appropriate actions be taken by the FIA.
“In response, Justice Aziz ordered the creation of anti-blasphemy cells in the FIA across the country,” the file vital. “The proceedings of this case by Justice Aziz used to be clearly supposed to provide a media hype to Rao Abdul Raheem and to pressurize Islamabad Police officers.”
Christian legal genuine Aneeqa Maria recalled a blasphemy case wherein her team had filed an application for grant of post-arrest bail to two Christians, Sunny Waqas and his cousin Noman Masih, who devour been booked by the Bahawalpur police and the Bahawalnagar police in two blasphemy conditions connected to the same incident.
“Justice Aziz used to be serving in the Bahawalpur Bench of the Lahore High Court docket, and the bail petition used to be mounted in his court,” Maria educated Christian Day-to-day Worldwide-Morning Star News. “As an different of judging the grounds for bail, Aziz pressured the police to add Share 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act in the case and investigate the topic afresh. It’s correct that this sort of religiously prejudiced desire is not very fragment of the bench now.”
One other Christian legal genuine, Lazar Allah Rakha, said that he had filed an enchantment in opposition to the demise sentence given to two Muslim blasphemy suspects, Muhammad Riaz and Ejaz Ahmed, which used to be heard by a two-desire bench including Aziz.
“Factual when the numerous desire used to be about to tell the acquittal repeat for the two convicts, Aziz recused himself from the bench to discontinue his colleague from acquitting the appellants,” Rakha educated Christian Day-to-day Worldwide-Morning Star News.
The legal genuine, who alongside with Maria furthermore represented Sunny Waqas and Noman Masih, said that for the duration of a hearing of the bail petitions, Aziz lost his temper and accused him of defending the blasphemy suspects “correct to get some cash.”
“The need’s harsh remarks grew to alter into the court’s ambiance very hostile and provoked some emotional legal professionals to encompass me,” Rakha said. “He over and over pressurized the investigations superintendent of police to behavior a original investigation who sooner or later prepared a brand new challan [charge sheet] and added the part connected to terrorism in the conditions.”
Pakistan is ranked No. 8 on Birth Doorways’ 2025 World Learn List of the most refined areas to be a Christian.
This text used to be in the origin published at Christian Day-to-day Worldwide–Morning Star News
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