The Lahore High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application of Christian citizen Amanat Masih (45), resident of Nabipur Virkan village, Sheikhupura.Amanat was booked under the blasphemy law on March 23, 2007, for allegedly desecrating the Quran. The court said the accused had admitted in his petition that he had in his ignorance desecrated the Quran. It also said ignorance was no excuse to break the law.
Amanat is accused of burning the Quran on the directions of Liaqat Ali. According to the prosecution, Amanat had said his wife Shamim had ran away from him and that to make her return Liaqat Ali had told him to burn the Quran. Sheikhupura Factory Area police registered a case against Amanat under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The police had arrested Amant on the complaint of Mehmood Ahmed.
Mehmood had told the police that he was sitting in his mosque along with other people when Khawar Sajjad, an area resident, came to them and showed them burned pages of the Quran, which he had gathered from the street. He said they started searching for the culprit and found more pages burnt outside AmanatÂ’s house.
They grabbed hold of Amant who allegedly admitted to have burned the Quran, saying he was mentally disturbed and his wife had eloped. He told them that Liaqat had also given him an epitaph that he had buried in his courtyard. Mehmood Ahmed said they also dug out the epitaph. He said they called the police who arrested the accused and started legal proceedings against him. Ferozewala sessions court has already rejected his post-arrest bail application.