ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court, hearing a blasphemy case, said the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) should be closed down if its recommendations were not given due weight by the State institutions.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa said the CII is a constitutional body, when the opinion of a constitutional body is not followed then it is better to “close it”.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Yahya Afridi, on Friday, heard the bail plea of Zahid, who was arrested for allegedly joining a WhatsApp group that posted blasphemous content. The bench after hearing the arguments granted bail to the accused on furnishing a surety bond of Rs100,000.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in this case had sought an opinion of the Council, which stated that section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) does not apply to the accused.

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Justice Yahya Afridi then asked the accused lawyer about the date the CII’s opinion was received. The counsel replied that the opinion came on June 8, 2022. Upon that Justice Afridi said how the trial court rejected the bail despite the opinion of the council. He further stated that at this stage, the apex court cannot give its opinion. “If we give an opinion, the case under hearing in the high court will be affected,” he added.

FIA Cyber-Crime Wing Multan had registered a case against Zahid Mehmood, an accused on June 6, 2022, on a complaint.

Later, a trial court and the high court had rejected the bail of the accused.

During the hearing, Justice Faez inquired from the public prosecutor why the trial court did not mention any clause under which the accused was indicted, adding how the accused would know under what section of the Pakistan Penal Code he has been indicted.

The deputy attorney general (DAG) replied that the FIA had inquired into the matter on the complaint. Justice Faez, annoyed by the reply, asked the DAG he should know which clause is imposed at the time of indictment.

Justice Faez stated 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. He further said that in such matters the State machinery should not come under the pressure of the individuals.

Justice Faez also said that in a case related to religion, the trial court framed the charge without mentioning the sections of the PPC. 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 does not prove whether the complainant knows Arabic or not.

The Court also said 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.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022