In a relief to Pak's jailed same-sex couple, the Supreme Court granted them bail, staying the three-year sentence awarded to them by the Lahore High Court.
ISLAMABAD: In a relief to Pakistan's jailed same-sex couple, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted them bail, staying the three-year sentence awarded to them by the Lahore High Court.
Admitting a petition filed by the Shumail Raj, who underwent sex-change operations to become a man, and Shahzina Tariq, a three-judge bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas Das granted them bail on a surety bond of Rs 50,000
each.
The two were serving a three-year sentence awarded to them by the Lahore Court on May 28 on the grounds that they were women and had married in violation of the tenet of Islam and the Constitution which do not permit same-sex marriage.
The couple, who married last year, had approached the court for protection against harassment by Shahzina's relatives. However, the judge convicted them of "perjury" for
lying about the gender of Raj.
The High Court in its judgement said that it took a "lenient view" and had given a "lighter sentence" because they tendered an unconditional apology.
On the court's order, the two were kept in separate prisons. While Raj, 31, was kept in a women's lock-up at the Kot Lakhpat Jail, Shahzina, 26, was lodged in Faislabad jail.
The couple's lawyer, Babar Awan in his arguments before the apex court said the High Court had failed to take various aspects of law and delivered a "harsh" and
"unconstitutional" judgement.
He argued that the investigation recommended to determine the gender of Raj was not conclusive in the medical report presented before High Court.
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