By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has rejected the blasphemy case against Prime Minister Imran Khan and declared it unfit for trial.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah had reserved the verdict in advocate Saleemullah Khan’s petition on Thursday and announced it on Friday.
The petitioner had asked the court to disqualify the premier under Article 62 (1)(e) and (f). He cited some remarks by PM Khan and had alleged that they were blasphemous in nature and that the prime minister “does not possess adequate knowledge of Islam”.
“A person’s faith or belief is not open to be questioned by any other person. Moreover, a mistake or error committed by a person while addressing a public gathering cannot be treated as blasphemous when the facts and circumstances clearly establish that he or she could not have intended to commit such an offence,” ruled the court.
“Faith or religious belief is a personal matter and should not be questioned by others. Likewise, extreme caution has to be exercised in making allegations relating to blasphemy,” it noted.
It said the adequacy of Islamic knowledge cannot be measured or determined by a court. It dismissed the petition on the basis of being frivolous. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled on Friday that a person’s faith can’t be questioned by any other person. An IHC bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, issued a written verdict on a petition seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Imran Khan under Article 62 (1)(e)&(f) over alleged blasphemous remarks.
