Naveed Ahmad Khan

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Thursday omitted paragraphs from its previous judgments on February 6 and July 24 in the Mubarak Sani case.

The SC bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan accepted the government’s government’s urgent plea seeking omission of specific sections from the judgment.

The CJP read out the order, deleting iparagraphs No. 7 and 42 in the judgment in Mubarak Sani case.

“We can also make mistakes. If we make a mistake, instead of making an issue out of it, it should be corrected,” the CJP remarked.

The conviction of Mubarak Sani, who was charged with a crime in 2019 under the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing and Recording) (Amendment) Act, was overturned by a SC bench headed by Qazi Faez Isa on February 6.

The court stated in its ruling that the defendant’s alleged offense would not become a crime until 2021. As a result, the petitioner was granted instant release by the supreme court, which also overturned the conviction.

The government then challenged the decision on the grounds that paragraphs of the order, regarding Article 20 of the Constitution, needed to be modified as the rights of the citizens as envisaged under the provision were not absolute and instead subject to law, public order, and morality.

While accepting the plea, the Supreme Court ruled on July 24 that the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion and the right to practice one’s religion were subject to morality, public order, and the law.