Criticising blasphemy law does not amount to blasphemy: Justice Khosa
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ISLAMABAD: Justice Asif Saeed Khosa of the Supreme Court of Pakistan said on Monday that criticism of the blasphemy law did not amount to blasphemy.
The judge gave the remarks while hearing the appeal by Mumtaz Qadri — the killer of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer — against his death penalty.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa adjourned the hearing till tomorrow when Qadri’s counsel Justice retired Nazir Akhter is expected to continue his arguments.
During today's hearing the bench observed that the entire argument of Qadri’s counsel would be rendered irrelevant if it is not established that then governor Taseer had committed blasphemy.
Justice Khosa in his remarks said that criticising a law does not amount to blasphemy and the press clippings presented in court do not provide sufficient evidence to maintain that the former governor had committed blasphemy.
Related: Mumtaz Qadri files appeal against death penalty
Qadri, a former commando of Punjab police’s Elite Force, was sentenced to death for assassinating former Punjab governor Salman Taseer in Islamabad’s Kohsar Market. Qadri said he killed Taseer over the politician's vocal opposition to blasphemy laws of the country.
He had confessed to shooting Taseer dead outside an upmarket coffee shop close to the latter's residence in Islamabad on Jan 4.
Following the sentencing, Qadri's counsels had challenged the ATC's decision through two applications the same month.
The first petition had demanded that Qadri's death sentence should be quashed and the second asked for Section 7 of the ATA to be declared void from the sentencing.
In its ruling on the appeal, the IHC rejected Qadri's application against his death sentence under the PPC but accepted his application to void ATA's Section 7.
Qadri's counsels the challenged IHC's decision to uphold his death penalty in the Supreme Court.
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On DawnNews
Comments (75) Closed
Oct 05, 2015 04:22pm
This man commits murder in an open market and his case lingers on.
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Oct 05, 2015 04:25pm
My respects to honorable Justice. The same lawyers who were protesting against Asma Jahangir were also the one garlanding Mumtaz Qadri.
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Oct 05, 2015 04:25pm
This killer should be brought to justice without wasting any time. This is a litmus test for Pakistan taking on extremism.
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Oct 05, 2015 04:25pm
And even if is established that someone has definitely committed the offence of blasphemy does it allow others to take law into their own hands and dispense justice on their own without any due process of law?
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Oct 05, 2015 04:29pm
In a society where Mumtaz Qadri is considered a hero and Malala is treated like a villian there is surely something seriously wrong with that society.
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Oct 05, 2015 04:38pm
@Pragmatic Pakistani
They are Heros of two opposite extremist forces. Ordinary people don't even care !
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Oct 05, 2015 04:39pm
People are so scared to talk about this law or punish those who misused it and killed people on the pretext of blasphemy.
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Oct 05, 2015 04:45pm
Qadri's arguments are laughable. The court should never have quashed his terrorism conviction. What could be more terrorizing than assassinating a high profile public figure that you'd sworn to protect?
And yes the blasphemy law is a BAD law. We should all criticize it and hope to see common sense prevail and the law be expunged from the books. Does this give license to Qadri and his types to murder us all?
Let justice be done for the Taseer family
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Oct 05, 2015 04:48pm
Hope Mr. Qadri, who killed Mr. Salman Taseer on the pretext of blasphemy, will not get any relief ,he will be meet the ends of justice and fair-play.
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Oct 05, 2015 04:54pm
This is an open and shut case and the court time is being virtually wasted. Any verdict other than death penalty will adversely impact whatever image that Pakistan has as a democratic country where justice will prevail. If Mumtaz Qadri's views are considered even remotely acceptable, then we can say bye bye to any hopes of rule of law in Pakistan.
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Oct 05, 2015 05:01pm
Blasphemy law is a dangerous law.
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Oct 05, 2015 05:09pm
By looking at the comments, I'm happy to note that the silent majority in Pakistan is against this law. Only that we're too scared to do something about it.
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Oct 05, 2015 05:11pm
One thing is established. Qadri was in his early teens when he killed Governor who he was deputed to protect.Where are the right groups?
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Oct 05, 2015 05:15pm
Test case for Pakistan judicial system.
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Oct 05, 2015 05:25pm
Why have these judges turned this trial into an Islamiat class? This is a clear simple open-and-shut case. The killer confessed. It is now the judges' job to convict him and sentence him to death. Why haven't they done so in the last nearly 5 years what should have taken them only 5 minutes?
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Oct 05, 2015 05:26pm
@BK so many innocent people got killed by mobs due to this law. A few of them were mentally sick.
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Oct 05, 2015 05:28pm
Murder is murder , irrespective off why it was commited
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Oct 05, 2015 05:30pm
Remarks by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa - seems still there is a ray of hope as far as our judiciary is concerned
The killer should be punished as soon as possible to prove that we live in Islamic republic of Pakistan where justice prevails otherwise it will give bad impression that in an Islamic state the punishment is only for the minorities. I hope our religious leaders care about it and will also demand this punishment
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Oct 05, 2015 05:42pm
and the irony
. ... 295 ... the Blasphemy Law was made by British ... after Ilm-Din incident ..
so its actually a British Made Law .. .later additions / modifications not withstanding .
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Oct 05, 2015 05:56pm
@Asif
I know Qadri is hero for people on extreme, i just do not understand the bit you are offering for Malala? Do you even know what extremism is?
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Oct 05, 2015 05:59pm
He should be punished hard He is mentally sick man Salman taseer was great man Rest in peace
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Oct 05, 2015 06:10pm
Poblem is, the people who hailed him(qadri) as their hero.
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Oct 05, 2015 06:31pm
The learned Judge got it right. The Pakistani law also does not allow you to execute another for holding views not similar to yours. But Mr.Qadri not only passed judgement on Mr.Taseer but he also went on to gun him down. However what will long remain in memory was the mob of lawyers falling over themselves trying to garland Mr. Qadri.
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Oct 05, 2015 06:31pm
I don't understand......if he committed murder in the name of religion, and believes he did the right thing, why is he afraid of dying?
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Oct 05, 2015 06:33pm
Taliban terrorists have been killing people in the name of twisted logic, twisted Islam, they have been hanged by military courts. what is the difference here, Qadri is a self confessed killer, he should have been hanged long ago.
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Oct 05, 2015 06:33pm
This religious fanatic evil extremist fundamentalist deployed by some one in higher position to kill innocent liberal muslim and a competent governor Salman Taseer who raised his voice against barbarism and pathetic Black blasphemy law.Our prophet was stoned ridiculed and harassed by the opponents but he never took revenge in this way.This black law is totally unacceptable brought by the cruel dead dictator Hypocrite Zia to please Mullas .This man must be hanged without further delay
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Oct 05, 2015 06:36pm
@Asif Asif Sahib Malala became hero because she survived after getting bullet in her Head. Qadri is Killer he should be hanged plain and simple
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Oct 05, 2015 06:37pm
It will make or break the future of our nation ........... very important judgement ........... pray that wisdom and justice prevail
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Oct 05, 2015 06:40pm
In Pakistan fanatics are known to kill prosecution lawyers and judges. We must protect them. Why can't such cases be heard in camera and the verdict immediately implemented.
Society must be wiped clean of these fanatics, they are destroying Pakistan.
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Oct 05, 2015 06:43pm
When terrorists are being hanged by the dozens, why is 'garlanded hero of the nation' still not hanged?
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Oct 05, 2015 06:44pm
There is no space for such things in civilised and western advanced societies. Very sad to see such state of affairs.
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Oct 05, 2015 06:47pm
That detestable smirk, self satisfaction smugness, being garlanded by his loathsome admirers. This charade could have stopped if he was sent to gallows right from the outset.This vermin who killed a man he was supposed to protect, hope SC facilitates his earliest date with the hangman.
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Oct 05, 2015 06:49pm
You want to eliminate terrorism & terrorists ? Qadri should be punished according to the law of the land & his supporters arrested including his legal team.
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Oct 05, 2015 06:57pm
The real criminals in this case besides Mr Qadri were the dozens of lawyers and so officers of the court rushing to garland Mr Qadri with flowers.
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Oct 05, 2015 07:11pm
Now, by saying that 'criticizing blasphemy law does not amount to blasphemy' has the Justice Asif Saeed Khosa committed blasphemy?
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Oct 05, 2015 07:11pm
but the sad thing is I've seen educated people defending him..
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Oct 05, 2015 07:25pm
Even if the minister had committed blasphemy, the convict had no right to take law in his hand and dispense quick justice in terms of killing the minister. He must be hanged as soon as possible and must be treated as a convict, not as a hero, as seen.
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Oct 05, 2015 07:32pm
He should be punished according to the law, no ifs and buts. .
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Oct 05, 2015 07:33pm
A real test for Supreme Court this case ... let's see if they Pass or Fail
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Oct 05, 2015 07:39pm
This criminal needs strenuous punishment
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Oct 05, 2015 07:46pm
@Pragmatic Pakistani We have made it so by perverting society our selves, now the question is how are we going to un-pervert it?
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Oct 05, 2015 07:52pm
I am happy to read the comments and hope justice will be done.
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Oct 05, 2015 07:55pm
We live in 21 St century.
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Oct 05, 2015 07:59pm
Why is this case not transferred to military courts?????
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Oct 05, 2015 08:08pm
@Haseeb Shigri
Such people are not educated, they are ignorant with closed minds!
Education makes you broad minded with balanced approach to conflicting issues and respect for the other person's views.
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Oct 05, 2015 08:26pm
@Pragmatic Pakistani completey agree, could not have put this better myself. Pakistan needs to wake up!
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Oct 05, 2015 08:27pm
@Bull
Mumtaz Qadri was born in 1985, and assassinated Salman Taseer in 2011!
That makes Mumtaz around 26 years old when he assassinated Taseer, so just how do you conclude that Qadri "was in his early teens"????
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Oct 05, 2015 08:29pm
Dont make the killers our Heros. Otherwise history will curse Qadri for sure, but our justice system will be cursed by coming generations too.
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Oct 05, 2015 08:33pm
@Asif Jamil , so true. Your last sentence has conveyed the best of humanity.Cheers!
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Oct 05, 2015 08:37pm
What is section 7 of ATA?
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Oct 05, 2015 08:46pm
Pakistan needs a modern and scientific school education setup to counter these kind of extremist behavior.
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Oct 05, 2015 09:07pm
Lets just assume he did Blasphemy then what ? did he have the right to kill the person who he was suppose to protect. Having said this , its such a high profile case which can trigger and cause disruption by other menaces in our country .
This guy should have been dead by now any minute or day he is alive is a curse on whole humanity.
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Oct 05, 2015 09:07pm
Elected official should not stimulate the sentiments of people with their open liberal views in very conservative society; apart from that there is no justification for killing any person he does not agree with your believes. Probably it's the local culture where honor killing is the rule.
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Oct 05, 2015 09:59pm
I think the people who admire and protect him are the real dangerous people. As a commando of elite force,the utmost duty of Qadri was to protect Salman Taseer .
He should be hanged twice without any delay.
Justice delayed equal to justice denied.
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Oct 05, 2015 10:05pm
Blasphemy laws are always used to settle personal scores, that's the way it was in Europe for three hundred years before they wised up; such laws have no place in a democracy; as long as Pakistan has these laws on the books it will have terrorists.
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Oct 05, 2015 10:21pm
And you wonder why the rest of the World doesn't think Pakistan justice system works. This guy killed a prominent politician and brags about it .... treated like a king in prison .... and nobody has the guts to execute the murdering thugs.
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Oct 05, 2015 10:42pm
Such a waste of court time. He is so guilty. There is no case.
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Oct 05, 2015 11:02pm
Well said Justice Khosa......its about time this criminal receives the just punishment he deserves.
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Oct 05, 2015 11:20pm
@Bull . Wow a teen but How a teen got job in Govt department?
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Oct 05, 2015 11:29pm
In my humble opinion, whether Salman Taseer committed blasphemy or not, Mumtaz Qadri can not be justified in taking the stand as he took Law in his own hands & executed Salman Taseer in Public with an Official weapon.Justice must be done to stop fanatics from taking illegal actions on their own.
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Oct 05, 2015 11:42pm
"Criticising blasphemy law does not amount to blasphemy" Nice Judgement, Mullahs should take notice of this judgement and should update their parish.
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Oct 06, 2015 12:40am
I understand this killer got pumped up by the sermon of a Mullah. That instigator too should be tried.
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Oct 06, 2015 12:55am
@talat haque ..... Who is the minority, and who is the majority?
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Oct 06, 2015 12:59am
@Asif Jamil ... ... Asif. That is exactly what is happening, and that is exactly what the judges fear. That is why all terrorists must be tried before military tribunals. So why are the judges themselves standing in the way of this?
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Oct 06, 2015 01:04am
@Tarik .... They use the law of the land against you.
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Oct 06, 2015 02:36am
In Islam to kill a person is crime and this person did a crime and took law in his hands. He should be punished accordingly.
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Oct 06, 2015 02:50am
@numbersnumbers
He Birth year is 1996. He was 16 when he killed Tasser
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Oct 06, 2015 03:50am
Qadri emptied AK 47 magazine into ex governor, he is self confessed killer but gained notoriety when Black Coats showed up to support him. Now case is before SC, another shenanigan in the court of law. One page judgement could have put to end this vermin.
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Oct 06, 2015 04:36am
The most important thing in this case! How safe the judges feel !
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Oct 06, 2015 08:03am
Could it be possible that the real reason for the murder is not about Blasphemy at all? Would not it be in the interest of justice for a prosecutor to actually, through due diligence be able to get to the reason for assassination? Think deep or think not at all.
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Oct 06, 2015 11:41am
It would have interesting if the honourable judge would have defined 'critcism ' for clarity's sake. And, Ofcourse there is a difference between 'criticism'and 'insult'or abuse.
Indeed, no one should take the law in their own hands.
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Oct 06, 2015 02:37pm
@Waseem I think he is referring to extremist mindset of people who hate Malala
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Oct 06, 2015 05:25pm
No human with right senses can justify taking sides with the murderer. We need to step up to humanity level instead of patronising a culprit.
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Oct 06, 2015 11:55pm
we demand justice for qadri
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Oct 07, 2015 11:20am
@zarak
Can you please explain what you mean, what is justice for Qadri in your opinion?
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