A judicial magistrate on Wednesday indicted actress Saba Qamar and singer Bilal Saeed in a case of alleged desecration of Wazir Khan Masjid.
Qamar and Saeed pleaded not guilty and decided to contest the trial. Magistrate Javeria Munir Bhatti directed the prosecution to present its witnesses on October 14.
It is important to recall that Akbari Gate Police Station had registered an FIR against the duo under Section 295 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) following a court’s direction to act on an application of a lawyer as per law and decide whether a cognizable offence was made out.
The section deals with the offence of injuring or defiling a place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class.
On September 8, the court issued bailable arrest warrants against Saba and Bilal after they failed to appear in court. They were granted bail against surety bonds worth Rs30,000 each.
Both of them had posted apologies following the controversy. Bilal assured that he would remove the nikkah sequence shot at the mosque.
According to the petition moved by a lawyer against the duo, the suspects had “desecrated the sanctity of the mosque” by their act which had sparked outrage among citizens. The petitioner asked the court to order the police to lodge a case against the persons involved. Besides the actor and the singer, the petitioner also sought action against the production house of the music video and officials of the Auqaf department who permitted the shooting.
Qamar and Saeed pleaded not guilty and decided to contest the trial. Magistrate Javeria Munir Bhatti directed the prosecution to present its witnesses on October 14.
It is important to recall that Akbari Gate Police Station had registered an FIR against the duo under Section 295 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) following a court’s direction to act on an application of a lawyer as per law and decide whether a cognizable offence was made out.
The section deals with the offence of injuring or defiling a place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class.
On September 8, the court issued bailable arrest warrants against Saba and Bilal after they failed to appear in court. They were granted bail against surety bonds worth Rs30,000 each.
Both of them had posted apologies following the controversy. Bilal assured that he would remove the nikkah sequence shot at the mosque.
According to the petition moved by a lawyer against the duo, the suspects had “desecrated the sanctity of the mosque” by their act which had sparked outrage among citizens. The petitioner asked the court to order the police to lodge a case against the persons involved. Besides the actor and the singer, the petitioner also sought action against the production house of the music video and officials of the Auqaf department who permitted the shooting.