LAHORE - The proceedings of a petition seeking registration of a sedition case against TLP chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi came to an end on Saturday after which a sessions court reserved its verdict.
The TLP chief was taken into protective custody Friday night and is being kept at a guest house.
Advocate Abdullah Malik had filed a petition that Maulana Rizvi and some others be proceeded against on sedition charges for their utterances against the judiciary, armed forces and other state institutions during a recent protest in the provincial metropolis against the acquittal of Aasia Bibi.
The Supreme Court had held that the blasphemy allegation against Aasia Bibi could not be proved and there was no justification to keep her behind bars.
Advocate Malik said in his petition to the sessions court that the station house officer (SHO) of Civil Lines police station Lahore had not registered a first information report (FIR) against Khadim Rizvi and others although they had incited the masses to violence and stage mutiny against the state.
The Civil Lines police, in Saturday’s hearing, submitted their report that an FIR had already been lodged against Rizvi under Sections 291, 290, 186, 353, 427 and 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code as well as Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order.
At this, the petitioner’s counsel insisted that sedition charges against the TLP leader should also be added to the FIR. Additional Sessions Judge Rai Mohammad Kharal reserved the verdict on the petition.
