Mashal Khan lynching case: PHC dismisses bail petition of accused

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday dismissed the bail petition of an accused charged in the Mashal Khan lynching case.

A single bench of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth refused bail to Asad Zia, alias Asad Katlang, in the Mashal lynching case.

On August 17, the Mardan police had arrested the accused Asad Katlang after the ATC cancelled his bail before arrest application.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer claimed that his client was innocent in the case as he was charged after the statement of Ajmal Mayar in the case, who had been acquitted in the case.

Barrister Amirullah Khan Chamkani appeared on behalf of the complainant Muhammad Iqbal Khan, father of Mashal Khan.

He submitted that Asad Zia had been seen in three videos and actively participated in violence in the Mashal lynching case. He requested the court to refuse bail to the accused as the court had also refused bail to two other accused who were under trial in the anti-terrorism court.

Earlier, the PHC had also denied bail to two under-trial accused including Izharullah alias Johny and Sabir Mayar. However, the court had directed the Prosecution Department to submit challan of the case against the accused in the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) within 15 days.

The high court had also directed the anti-terrorism court to decide the case within two months.

The trial of the case regarding the three accused, who were absconders and arrested after the verdict in the case, had been transferred by the PHC to ATC Peshawar on the request of the complainant.

Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student of the Department of Mass Communication at the Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, was lynched by a mob on Apr 13, 2017, after accusing him of blasphemy.

On February 7, the Anti-Terrorism Court had convicted 31 of the 57 accused in the lynching case, awarding death sentence to the prime accused, Imran Khan, life imprisonment to five of them, and three-year imprisonment to 25 others.