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PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has upheld the life sentence awarded to a man by a trial court for desecrating the Holy Quran at a graveyard here over five years ago.
A bench consisting of Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Babar Sattar declared that the prosecution had successfully brought home the charge against the appellant, a resident of Peshawar, beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt and the trial court, after proper appraisal of evidence available on record, rightly recorded the conviction.
The appellant and another accused in the case were convicted by the trial court on March 14, 2025.
They were convicted on two counts under the Pakistan Penal Code’s Section 295-B (defiling or desecration of a copy of the Holy Quran) and Section 297 (trespassing place of burial). They were sentenced to life imprisonment under PPC Section 295-B and also to one year imprisonment under PPC Section 297.
Bench issues 49-page detailed judgement in May 2021 incident
While the present appellant had challenged his conviction by filing the instant appeal, the other convict preferred not to do so.
The bench has released a 49-page detailed judgement authored by Justice Sahibzada Asadullah, wherein the bench has discussed in detail multiple aspects of the case.
The appellant and the other convict were charged in an FIR registered at Shahpur police station, Peshawar, on May 8, 2021, under different provisions of the PPC.
The prosecution claimed that some villagers were offering Taraveeh prayer at a mosque and when they came out they observed certain suspicious activity at a nearby graveyard.
When the complainant and other witnesses entered the graveyard they spotted the two convicts burning pages of Holy Quran and had also slaughtered a puppy, which was lying in an injured condition nearby.
Both the convicts had also recorded their confessional statements the next day wherein they admitted that they were involved in sorcery. However, the present appellant claimed that the other convict was the prime accused, whereas he was only involved in supportive acts.
The prosecution asserted that the accused, in pursuit of witchcraft and occult practices, deliberately burnt pages of the Holy Quran within a graveyard and further employed the blood of a dog as part of a ritual intended to facilitate such forbidden acts.
About the testimonies of the witnesses, the bench ruled: “These witnesses narrated in considerable detail the circumstances under which they allegedly reached the place of occurrence, observed the incriminating articles, apprehended the accused, and informed the police.”
“Their testimonies remained substantially harmonious regarding the essential features of the occurrence, namely the presence of the burnt pages of the Holy Qur’an, the ashes recovered from the scene, the injured puppy, the bloodstained knife, and the circumstances leading to the registration of the criminal case,” the bench observed.
“A close and careful examination of their depositions reveals that each witness was subjected to lengthy, searching, and, at times, penetrating cross-examination. Yet the defence, despite considerable effort, was unable to extract any contradiction of consequence capable of striking at the core of the prosecution case.”
“Equally significant is the fact that the defense failed to establish the existence of any personal animosity, prior hostility, or ulterior motive that could have prompted these witnesses to falsely implicate the accused in an occurrence carrying such grave consequences,” the court ruled.
Quoting several verses from the Holy Quran as well as traditions of Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), the bench observed: “The Holy Quran expressly refers to the practice of magic and warns against those who pursue it, while the Prophetic traditions classify sorcery amongst the gravest of sins.”
“The foregoing verses unequivocally condemn sorcery and allied practices, warn against their consequences, and declare the ultimate futility of those who engage therein. The condemnation of sorcery and occult practices is firmly rooted in the primary sources of Islamic law. The Holy Quran does not merely acknowledge the existence of magic, it expressly warns mankind against its pursuit and portrays it as a means of misguidance and spiritual ruin.”
The bench observed that its observations were not intended to predetermine the fate of the accused before the court.
“It is not the function of a court of law to convict on the basis of emotion, public sentiment, religious outrage, or philosophical reflection nor is it the purpose of these introductory observations to suggest that the accused must necessarily be guilty of the allegations levelled against them.”
“No individual can be condemned merely because the allegations against him appear grave, offensive, or morally disturbing. The law requires proof, and proof alone. Accordingly, this Court does not approach the present matter with a preconceived conclusion,” the bench declared.
Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2026
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