Pak Court Voices Concern Over Reopening Bhagat Singh Sentencing Case; Establishment of Larger Bench

On Saturday, a Pakistani court objected to a request to examine the case of Independence War Hero Bhagat Singh’s 1931 sentence, to set it aside via the use of review procedures, and to honor him with posthumous state rewards.

On March 23, 1931, Singh was killed by the British authorities along with his friends Rajguru and Sukhdev after being found guilty of planning a conspiracy against the British government.

Initially imprisoned for life, Singh was eventually found guilty in another “fabricated case” and given the death penalty.

On Saturday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) objected to the reopening of the case that has been closed for ten years and the creation of a larger bench to hear the petition that seeks to overturn Singh’s conviction through the use of review principles and order the government to give him posthumous state awards.

“On Saturday, the Lahore High Court objected to the reopening of the Bhagat Singh case and the creation of a bigger bench for an early hearing. According to Advocate Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi, the head of the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation and one of the petitioners, the court argued that the petition is unmaintainable in light of the creation of a bigger bench.

According to Qureshi, the LHC has been holding onto the petition of a senior lawyer panel of which he is a member for ten years.

“Justice Shujaat Ali Khan had referred the matter to the chief justice in 2013 for the constitution of a larger bench, and since then it has been pending,” he said.

According to the petition, Bhagat Singh fought for the subcontinent’s freedom.

The petition further claims that Singh is revered by Muslims as well as Sikhs, Hindus, and Hindus in the subcontinent. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, repeatedly thanked him in a speech to the Central Assembly.

Qureshi stated, “It is a matter of national importance and should be fixed before a full bench.”

In the First Information Report on the murder of British police officer John P. Saunders, for which Singh was given the death penalty, he claimed Singh’s name was not included.

In accordance with a court order, the Lahore police combed through the Anarkali police station’s files a decade ago and discovered the FIR for Saunders’ murder.

The FIR against two “unknown gunmen” was filed with the Anarkali police station on December 17, 1928, at 4.30 p.m. It was written in Urdu.

Sections 302, 120, and 109 of the Indian Penal Code were used to record the case.

Qureshi said that without hearing from any of the 450 potential witnesses, the special judges on the tribunal hearing Bhagat Singh’s case condemned him to death.

He said that Singh’s attorneys were not given the chance to question the witnesses in response.

He said, “We will prove Bhagat Singh’s innocence in the Saunders case.