Law ministry’s advice sought for FIR against Lal Masjid cleric, IHC told

ISLAMABAD: In a matter where a petitioner has been seeking from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to order registration of an FIR against cleric of Lal Masjid, the Ministry of Interior on Thursday told the court that it has forwarded the same to the Law Ministry for legal opinion.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the IHC while adjourning the matter till July 12, directed the advocate general Islamabad to appear before the court on the next date of hearing for assistance of the court.

During the last hearing, Joint Secretary Ministry of Interior Muhammad Suleman had told the IHC bench that neither Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid nor students of Jamia Hafsa were running any kind of institution that poses danger to the security and safety of the state.

The IHC bench was hearing the matter of a petitioner, Muhammad Jibran Nasir who has been seeking registration of an FIR against the Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, his wife Umm-e-Hassan and students of Jamia Hafsa for inviting the ISIS to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden and Lal Masjid operation. He said Jamia Hafsa female students through a video message invited the ISIS to avenge from Pakistan the killing of Bin Laden and Lal Masjid operation. He said Maulana Abdul Aziz in another video had endorsed the version of his female students that poses grave danger to the safety and security to the state of Pakistan.

The petitioner said he contacted Abpara police in this regard but they refused to lodge an FIR. Later, he filed an application before a civil court that on March 09 dismissed his application. The petitioner has prayed to the court to annul the civil court decision and direct police to register FIR in this matter.

In another matter, the IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi adjourned till June 29 in the matter of former director general Haj Rao Shakeel after his counsel did not appear before the court. Rao Shakeel has challenged his conviction in Haj corruption case.On June 3, Rao Shakeel was awarded 40 years imprisonment with a fine amounting Rs150.396 million in Haj corruption case.