Pakistan Lahore HC On Bhagat Singh: A Pakistani court on Saturday (September 16) expressed its objection to the petition to reopen the case of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s conviction in 1931. The petition also requested that Bhagat Singh be honored with the National Award posthumously.
Bhagat Singh was hanged along with his comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev on March 23, 1931 after being tried on charges of conspiring against the British rule. Bhagat Singh was initially sentenced to life imprisonment, but was later given death sentence in another fabricated case.
Talk of reopening Bhagat Singh case
The Lahore High Court on Saturday (September 16) took exception to the reopening of a case filed nearly a decade ago and the formation of a bench of lawyers to hear the plea seeking quashing of Singh’s conviction following the principles of review. It has been requested to do so.
Chairman of Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation and petitioner lawyer Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi said, “The Lahore High Court on Saturday took exception to the reopening of the Bhagat Singh case and the formation of a bench of lawyers for its speedy hearing.” The court objected that the petition was not capable of being heard by a bench of lawyers.
Qureshi said that this petition of a committee of senior lawyers has been pending in the High Court for a decade. “It has been pending since Judge Shujaat Ali Khan referred the matter to the Chief Justice in 2013 for constituting a larger bench,” he said.
Bhagat Singh fought for freedom
It has been said in the petition of Lahore High Court that Bhagat Singh fought for the independence of the subcontinent. It says that Bhagat Singh is respected in the subcontinent not only by Sikhs and Hindus, but also by Muslims. Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah paid tribute to Singh twice during his speech in the Central Assembly.
Qureshi argued, “This is a matter of national importance and should be decided before a full bench.” He said Bhagat Singh was not named in the FIR for the murder of British police officer John P. Sanders, for which He was sentenced to death.
Lahore police searched the records of Anarkali police station
About a decade ago, on the orders of the court, Lahore Police had searched the records of Anarkali police station and succeeded in finding the FIR of Sanders’ murder. This FIR, written in Urdu, was lodged at Anarkali police station on December 17, 1928, at 4.30 pm against two ‘unknown gunmen’.
Qureshi said that the special judges handling Bhagat Singh’s case sentenced him to death without hearing 450 witnesses in the case. He said that Singh’s lawyers were not even given a chance to cross-examine.
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