Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has granted post-arrest bail to a Christian man who was a minor at the time of his arrest in one of the three blasphemy cases filed against him in different police stations of Sargodha.
The accused was first taken into custody by Satellite Town police on July 16, 2023, under a blasphemy-related FIR. Subsequently, he was implicated in two additional cases based solely on suspicion. A trial court had ruled on July 20, 2024, that he was a juvenile at the time of the alleged offense.
Karana police registered the second FIR (No. 454) against him on August 20, 2023, under sections 295 A and B of the Pakistan Penal Code, despite the fact that he was already in detention in connection with the initial case.
In his ruling, Justice Asjad Javed Ghural highlighted that the petitioner was not named in the original FIR but was later accused through a supplementary statement from the complainant. The judge further noted that despite the suspect's prolonged imprisonment of over one and a half years, police had yet to submit a charge sheet.
Emphasizing that a person cannot be indefinitely detained as a form of preemptive punishment without a foreseeable trial conclusion, Justice Ghural stated that the accused was not proven to be a hardened criminal. He approved the bail on the condition of furnishing surety bonds worth Rs100,000.
However, the accused remains in custody as his bail plea in the third case is still under review by the LHC.
Earlier, in December 2024, Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan had granted him bail in the first case (FIR No. 856) registered by Satellite Town police.
