Taseer’s assassination case adjourned till Feb 3

ISLAMABAD: A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) comprising Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi and Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui adjourned the hearing of an appeal against the conviction of former Punjab Police commando Mumtaz Qadri who, on duty for the protection of former Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer, assassinated him on January 04, 2011 in Kohsar Market, Islamabad, due to his opposition to the blasphemy law.
The hearing, which was fixed after three years, was adjourned as the federal government sought time to depute a prosecutor and also for the preparation of the case.The IHC division bench, while putting off the case till February 3, observed that no adjournment would be granted next time.
A standing counsel Jehangir Jadoon represented the federal government and advocate general for Islamabad Mian Abdur Rauf sought two weeks’ time for preparation of the case but the court put off the hearing till next Tuesday.
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on October 1, 2011 awarded two-time death penalty to Qadri that he, through his counsel Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, challenged in the IHC. An IHC bench on October 11, 2011 stayed the execution of Qadri and since then his appeal against conviction had been pending adjudication.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Qadri was represented by former chief justice of the Lahore High Court Khawaja Muhammad Sharif and Mian Nazir Akhtar.At the start of the proceedings, Justice Qureshi inquired as to who was representing the federal government. On this, a standing counsel Jehangir Jadoon said that they had not received instructions from the federal government yet and the court could issue notices in this regard. The court, however, expressed its resentment and said that the court had already issued notices in this case.
Advocate General, Islamabad, Mian Abdur Rauf, said that he had assumed the charge of advocate general a short time ago and till this time he had got no office or staff and he had also got no record of the cases. For the appointment of a prosecutor and preparation of the case, the advocate general sought two weeks’ time.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui observed that the prosecution had filed applications for an adjournment and all the blame went to the courts that they caused delays in adjudication of matters.
The IHC bench observed that it would hear the case next week on daily basis. Legal counsel for Mumtaz Qadri opposed the adjournment and argued that the appeal had been fixed three years after the last hearing. “There is chaos in the country due to terrorism and that’s how the case was fixed for hearing otherwise it may not have been heard even after three years.” He said that no lawyer was ready to become a prosecutor in this case. Justice Siddiqui, while addressing the advocate general for Islamabad, said that this impression should be dispelled that the government lawyers were afraid.
Senior member of the bench Justice Qureshi said if nobody appeared from the government side in this case, they could direct the attorney general for Pakistan to appear before the court.Meanwhile, a large number of people gathered outside the IHC and were chanting slogans in support of Qadri. A heavy contingent of the police was deputed there.