Court drops Section 295-B in blasphemy case against woman

LAHORE: An additional sessions court in Bahawalnagar removed Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) from a blasphemy case, registered against a 55-year-old woman, ruling that the provision was not attracted.

According to the court’s order, Section 295-B relates specifically to defiling, damaging, or desecrating a copy of the Holy Quran. The judge observed that no such act was alleged in this case, noting that the accusation instead pertained to recorded remarks. On this basis, the court accepted the prosecution’s request for deletion of the charge.

According to Advocate Sarmad Ali, the accused woman was arrested earlier this year, while her co-accused had already obtained post-arrest bail. The police submitted the investigation report in late August, after which the matter was placed before the additional sessions judge, who later sent it back to the sessions judge for further orders.