Mubarak Sani Case

In the Mubarak Sani review case, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has approved the federal government’s appeal, removing paragraph 7 of the earlier ruling.

Following the Punjab government’s review petition in Mubarak Sani case, the Supreme Court has earlier decided to seek help of Mufti Taqi Usmani, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and other scholars given the religious nature of matter. The three-member bench, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, is overseeing the case.

According to Attorney General, after the Supreme Court’s original ruling in the Mubarak Sani case, scholars and Parliamentarians had demanded that the federal government should request a review of the case. The Speaker of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister however, rejected the appeal resulting in petition to be filed under civil procedure.

Mubarak Sani was charged with an offence in 2019 under the Punjab Holy Quran Act. His conviction was reversed on February 6 by a Supreme Court bench led by CJ Qazi Faez Isa. In the ruling, the court ordered the defendant’s immediate release, as the offense for which he was accused was not criminalized until 2021.

Due to this decision a campaign was launched against CJ Isa. The government of Punjab then filed a review petition, claiming that the paragraph 9, which dealt with Article 20 of the Constitution, needed modification to make it clear that citizens’ rights in the Constitution are subjected to law, public order, and morality rather than being absolute. On July 24, supreme court amend its ruling affirming that religious freedom is guaranteed by constitution.

Later, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) raised concerns on July 24 verdict and urged the judges to give ruling further thoughts.