Judge Muhammad Mushtaq in Lahore accepted the acquittal pleas of singer Bilal Saeed and actor Saba Qamar in the case of alleged desecration of the Wazir Khan mosque.
The claimants registered the case only to blackmail the accused Bilal Saeed and Saba Qamar, according to the acquittal plea, because no scene of dancing was recorded in the mosque paresis.
The petitioners claimed that they received permission from the Auqaf Department to film the shooting of ‘Qabool Hay,’ and that no witnesses had objected to the song being shot in the mosque.
It was argued that because claimant advocate Farhat Manzoor Chandio was not present when the filming was rerecorded and there was no evidence of a violation of the mosque’s sanctity, both parties should be acquitted.
A judicial magistrate had previously issued bailable warrants for singer Bilal Saeed’s arrest for failing to appear in court in a case of alleged desecration of Wazir Khan mosque with his co-accused local actress Saba Qamar.
Both of the accused had filed for personal appearance exemptions. The actor had gone to the UAE for professional assignments and would return by March 31, according to the accused counsel, and Saeed could not appear due to illness.
A prosecutor argued that no medical certificate had been produced on Saeed’s behalf, and Saba Qamar had gone abroad without the court’s permission.
He claimed that the suspects hid their faces in order to avoid being charged. The magistrate had previously dismissed both of the accused’s acquittal applications.
Following a court order to act on a lawyer’s application as per law and decide whether a cognizable offense was made out, Akbari Gate police registered an FIR against the duo under section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The offense of injuring or defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of any class is dealt with in this section.
The complainant, Farhat Manzoor Chandio, claimed that the perpetrators violated the sanctity of the mosque by their actions, which also sparked public outrage.
