An acquittal petition was filed by actors Bilal Saeed and Saba Qamar in connection with a first information report (FIR) filed against them for allegedly recording a song at Lahore’s historic Wazir Khan Mosque was dismissed on Wednesday by a district court in Lahore.
While dismissing the petitions, judicial magistrate Sarwat Batool set March 16 as the date for drafting the charges against the accused actors.
After hearing arguments from both parties on the acquittal applications, the magistrate had already reserved his remarks.
The accused’s lawyers pleaded with the court that the Auqaf department’s investigation had found in their favour.
They cited Auqaf’s regional manager Ikhlaq Ahmed’s testimony in his report that no immoral conduct had taken place at the mosque.
They went on to say that at the time of the recording, no indecency was committed at the sacred place, and no inappropriate clothing was worn.
However, the law officer claimed that a video of the accused dancing was stored on an electronic device and may be used as evidence.
He went on to say that mosques are sites where Muslims practise their acts of religion and that the accused’s actions affected the public’s feelings. The officer requested that the court deny the duo’s acquittal applications.
The Baaghi actor and the singer in the case had already been issued arrest orders by the court. However, in the most recent hearing, the court cancelled the arrest warrants and ordered the payment of Rs30,000 in security bonds, as well as the appearance of both defendants in person.
It may be remembered that in August of last year, a video clip of Saeed’s song Qabool Hai went viral on social media, infringing on the sanctity of Lahore’s famous Wazir Khan Mosque.
 filed against them for allegedly recording a song at Lahore's historic Wazir Khan Mosque was dismissed on Wednesday by a district court in Lahore.){kind=link}