The Islamabad High Court (IHC) termed the registration of a sedition case without following due process as a waste of time and state resources.
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said in a 9-page detailed judgment that there is no doubt that Shandana Gulzar's statement is against individual personalities and authorities but there is no element regarding inciting the people to revolt. He said that Article 19 has specific restrictions.
According to the judgment, the prescribed legal procedure was not followed in the sedition case against Shandana Gulzar. The record of the prosecution also does not prove that it is proper to register the case. The legal procedure was not followed, it stated.
The court said that such criminal cases are not useful because they waste time and state resources.
The High Court also made a seven-point procedure on how a sedition case should be registered as part of the judgment.
The court said that the approval of the federal or provincial government is necessary to register a case of sedition. Only the concerned government’s authorized officer can register the case after examining the allegations with reasons. No ordinary citizen register such a case under the provisions of sedition, the court held.
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