Supreme Court to hear petition on Jaranwala incident tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Monday fixed for hearing a petition related to the tragic incident in Faisalabad district’s Jaranwala Tehsil wherein a violent mob ransacked and torched churches and attacked the community’s residences over blasphemy allegations, ARY News reported.  

The bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Shahid Wahid will take up the petition tomorrow (Tuesday).

The Supreme Court has also issued notices to the relevant parties on the matter.

It is pertinent to mention here that A mob attacked, vandalized multiple churches, and torched homes belonging to the Christian community in Jaranwala, Faisalabad over blasphemy allegations.

The Jaranwala police had registered terror cases against more than 600 people on August 17 for “vandalizing multiple churches and torching homes belonging to the Christian community.”

Read more: Over 600 booked as high-level probe underway into Jaranwala incident

According to the FIR, a mob of 500-600, who were led by a group of people, “attacked the Christian community, ransacked people’s homes after entering them, and torched Christians’ homes and the church building”.

The FIR invoked sections 7(1)(d), 7(1)(j), 7(1)(g) and 7(1)(h) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Read More: Caretaker PM visits Jaranwala, expresses solidarity with Christian families

It also invoked sections 148, 149, 153A, 186, 295, 295A, 324, 353, 427, 436, and 452 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The FIR also included sections 5 and 6 of the Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Act 2015.

On August 18, Caretaker Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Mohsin Naqvi said that two prime suspects in Jaranwala incident were arrested.