Top court grants bail to blasphemy accused

SC says further investigation required in case; grants bail to accused on surety bond of Rs100,000

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to a blasphemy accused who allegedly joined a WhatsApp group that posted blasphemous content.

A division bench, headed by Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, heard the bail application of the accused.

During the hearing, Justice Isa inquired from the public prosecutor why the trial court had not imposed any clause in the indictment.

The apex court judge added how the accused will fight his case when he does not know what crime he has committed.

To this, the deputy attorney general replied that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had inquired into the matter on the complaint.

Irked by the remark, Justice Isa told the deputy attorney general that he should know which clause was imposed at the time of indictment.

Justice Isa said that the FIA also sought the opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) in this case, adding that the council said that Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) does not apply to the accused.

The top court's judge added that the CII is a constitutional body. “When the opinion of a constitutional body is not followed, it is better to close it.”

Justice Yahya Afridi asked the lawyer of the accused regarding the date the CII opinion was received, to this, the council replied that the opinion came on June 8, 2022.

Justice Afridi inquired if the trial court had rejected the bail despite the opinion of the council. He stated that at this stage, the SC cannot give its opinion.

“If we give an opinion, the case under hearing in the high court will be affected,” Justice Afridi added.

While giving remarks during the hearing, Justice Isa said that every case about religion is related to the state.

“Matters related to religion cannot be left in the hands of individuals but the state machinery should handle them with utmost capacity and caution,” he added.

The judge said that state machinery should not lie before individuals in these matters, adding that in a case related to religion, the trial court framed the charge but did not insert the section.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the FIA investigation, the court said that further investigation was required in the case.

The apex court stated that the investigation was incomplete because the alleged post is in Arabic but the investigation doesn’t prove whether the complainant knows Arabic or not.

The apex court added that the investigation also fails to mention how the complainant came to know about the post. The apex court then granted bail to the accused on a surety bond of Rs100,000.

The FIA’s cybercrime wing, Multan registered a case against the accused on June 6, 2022 on a complaint. Later, a trial court and the high court had rejected the bail of the accused.