July 27, 2024
By Ahmed Saeed
ISLAMABAD
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has partially accepted review petitions in the Mubarak Sani case, ruling that while Ahmadis are declared non-Muslim, they retain the right to profess and proliferate their religion, provided they do not publicly use Muslim terms or introduce themselves as Muslims.
The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, noted that Ahmadis are entitled to practice their faith in the privacy of their homes, places of worship, and specific private institutions, subject to reasonable legal restrictions. The court stress that the right to religious freedom, as guaranteed by the constitution, is subject to law, morality, and public order.
In February 2024, the Supreme Court granted post-arrest bail to Mubarak Sani, an Ahmadi accused of violating the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing and Recording) (Amendment) Act 2021 by distributing the proscribed book Tafseer-e-Sagheer.
The court said that the alleged act occurred in 2019, before it was criminalised in 2021, and that the maximum punishment for the offence was six months, while Sani had already been imprisoned for over 13 months.
Religious groups have widely condemned the judgment, accusing the apex court of granting Ahmadis the freedom to propagate their religion. In response, the Supreme Court issued a press release decrying the campaign against the SC judges and the judiciary, urging critics to file a review petition rather than resorting to public criticism.
The Punjab government, through Additional Prosecutor General Ahmad Raza Gilani, filed a review petition, arguing that the Supreme Court’s conclusions were based on erroneous assumptions of material facts. Several religious parties also filed review petitions, but the apex court gave them a limited right to hearing by directing them only to give arguments related to constitution and Islamic orders.
The Supreme Court also issued notices to 10 religious institutions, including the Council of Islamic Ideology, and sought their guidance related to Islamic jurisprudence.
In its partial acceptance of the review petition, the Supreme Court declared that the fundamental right to freedom of religion is subject to law, public peace, and morality. However, it rejected petitions seeking to annul Mubarak Sani’s bail.
The court revisited the historical context of the second amendment, which declared Ahmadis non-Muslims, citing statements from former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Attorney General Yahya Bakhtiyar, who emphasised the protection of rights of Ahmadis as citizens of the country.
The court stated in the order that even after the second amendment was passed, the government of the time assured that Ahmadis’ rights as citizens would be guaranteed.
The court cited an excerpt from PM Bhutto’s speech following the amendment’s passage: “To my government, it will become now all the more necessary to protect the rights of all citizens of Pakistan. I want to make quite clear to everyone outside this house that this will be done and there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind, that we will not tolerate any form of vandalism or any form of humiliation or insult to any citizen or community of this country,”
The Supreme Court clarified that, according to the Zaheeruddin case, the offences listed in sections 298 A, B, and C apply to Ahmadis only if performed publicly, not within private or worship spaces.
Religious parties, including JUI-F and Tehreek Labaik Pakistan, have rejected the verdict, terming it unconstitutional and announced plans for street agitation.