Pakistani court objects to reopening case of Bhagat Singh's sentencing

Lahore, September 16

A Pakistani court on Saturday raised an objection to a plea to reopen the case of Independence war hero Bhagat Singh’s sentencing in 1931 and to set it aside by exercising the principles of review and honour him with posthumous state awards.

Bhagat Singh was hanged by British rulers on March 23, 1931, along with his comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev after being tried on the charges of hatching a conspiracy against the British regime. He was initially jailed for life, but was later sentenced to death in another “fabricated case”.

“The Lahore High Court on Saturday raised an objection to reopen the Bhagat Singh case and constitution of a larger bench for its early hearing. The court objected that the petition is not maintainable for the constitution of a larger bench,” advocate Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi, chairman of the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation and one of the petitioners, said.

The petition further says that Bhagat Singh is respected in the subcontinent not only by the Sikhs, and Hindus but also Muslims. Founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah twice had paid him tribute during his speech in the Central Assembly. — PTI

FIR was lodged in Lahore

About a decade ago, the Lahore police had searched through the records of the Anarkali police station on the court’s order and managed to find the FIR of the murder of Saunders