ISLAMABAD, AUG 22: The Supreme Court has approved the federal government’s appeal to expunge controversial paras from the contentious Mubarak Sani case verdict.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, heard the Centre’s plea alongside the Punjab government’s petition seeking a second review of the top court verdict of February 6.
In February this year, the apex court had approved the petition filed by sacrilege accused Maubarik Ahmad Sani, seeking deletion of certain charges from the charge framed against him and challenged the Lahore High Court’s orders dated October 16, 2023.
On July 24, in its verdict on the provincial government’s review plea filed under Article 188 of the Constitution, the top court declared it did not deviate in any way from the decisions of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) and the Supreme Court, in approving the bail to the sacrilege accused.
However, the verdict favouring Sani drew outrage among religious circles, and a debate in the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice where both the treasury and opposition benches agreed that the federal government file a petition with the Supreme Court.
Besides the Punjab government’s plea seeking omissions of certain portions from the court’s July 24 revised verdict, the Centre also filed a similar additional plea on August 17 as per Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directives.
The Punjab government in its petition maintained that some leading clerics and members of parliament requested the federal government to approach the top court and highlight some portions of the verdict that they say merited correction.
It further maintained that certain conclusions and observations made in other parts of the judgment seem to be a mistake and inconsistent with previous rulings of the highest court.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Isfam Fazl’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani of Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi, who were among the religious scholars, who requested the federal government for approaching the apex court, attended today’s hearing.
In today’s short verdict, the top court said the paras excluded from the verdict cannot be cited as precedent in any judgment.
Approving the provincial government’s plea, the apex court decided to take assistance from the religious scholars in the case.
![PESHAWAR, JAN 12 /DNA/ - Owing to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's precarious law and order circumstances, the provincial assembly has written a letter to the Peshawar corps commander seeking an in-camera briefing on ongoing operations and the security situation in the province. "The [special] Committee desires to receive a detailed briefing from Headquarters XI Corps, Peshawar, particularly in the context of the ongoing operations being conducted by the federal government and LEAs in the merged districts of KP," reads the letter issued by KP Assembly Deputy Secretary Tariq Noor, while referring to the Special Committee (on Security) constituted by the house. The committee features more than 40 members, including the leader of the house, the leader of the opposition and provincial ministers, along with parliamentary leaders of respective political parties. The letter, dated January 8, also points out that the committee has received detailed briefings from key stakeholders, including the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary, the IGP, and now seeks a briefing as part of the consultative process. Letter written by KP Assemblys deputy secretary to Headquarters XI Corps. — Reporter Letter written by KP Assembly's deputy secretary to Headquarters XI Corps. — Reporter The KP Assembly's request for a briefing from a senior army commander comes as the province, as stated by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry in a recent media briefing, accounted for nearly 71% of all the terrorist incidents in 2025. The overwhelming share of KP in facing terror incidents, as per the military's spokesperson, was due to a "politically conducive environment and the flourishing political-criminal-terror-nexus" in the province. Noting that the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in KP was resisting counterterrorism efforts at every forum — a claim denied by the PTI — Lt Gen Chaudhry highlighted that the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) carried out 75,175 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across the country in 2025, of which 14,658 IBOs were conducted in KP. Out of the total 5,397 terrorism incidents reported nationwide in the previous year, as many as 3,811 incidents occurred in KP. The issue of terrorism and military operations has been a point of contention between the PTI's KP government and the Centre in recent times, where the former has time and again stressed a political solution and dialogue, whereas the latter has pressed on with taking action against the terrorists. This is also reflected by the KP Assembly's letter to the Headquarters XI Corps, Peshawar, which says that the Special Committee (on Security) "acknowledges the importance of security measures but considers that operation alone without broader political, social and developmental initiatives may not ensure suitable peace and stability and could risk further unrest in the province".](https://islamabadpost.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/security-forces-218x150.jpg "KP Assembly seeks Peshawar corps commander’s in-camera briefing on security situation")
