ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has withdrawn its previous order summoning the directors general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), as well as the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission ‘man (NCHR), for a hearing scheduled for Friday.
The case concerns a judicial investigation into allegations of organized digital fraud.
“This order is a partial modification of the order adopted earlier today. In the previous order, the secretaries of the Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Human Rights and the Ministry of the Interior, the directors Generals of FIA and IB and Chairman of NCHR have been directed to appear in person on the following date,” Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan said in a revised order issued later the same day.
However, the judge noted that after a detailed review of the file in chambers after the hearing, the need for their personal presence appeared premature. This was mainly because the FIA’s response stated that despite written requests to the Special Branch of the Punjab Police for evidence to support its report – the central subject of the writ petition – no such evidence had been provided.
Moreover, the focal point appointed by the SSP (Intelligence) Rawalpindi did not submit any material substantiating the report, apart from general information.
The amended order also highlighted discrepancies in the case where paragraph 4 of the petition claims that 90 percent of the complainants in the FIRs were members of the gang mentioned in the FactFocus report dated 29.01.2024, but a cursory review FIRs accompanied by the petition tend to show that this is not the case.
The order added that for now, assistance would be required only from the petitioner’s counsel and the Additional Attorney General. However, the Punjab Inspector General of Police was ordered to appoint a competent officer to assist the court in response to the FIA’s claim that no substantial material implicating the alleged gang was provided despite its awareness efforts.
More than 100 victims’ families, represented by lawyers Abid Saqi and Usman Warraich, have petitioned the High Court for the formation of a judicial commission.
They based their plea on a Punjab Special Branch report titled “The Blasphemy Business”. The report alleged that a suspected gang trapped youths in blasphemy cases and extorted money from them after filing complaints with the FIA in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The petition claims that this gang is the complainant in almost 90 percent of blasphemy cases recorded by the FIA. Operating under the name “Legal Commission on Blasphemy,” the group is said to be made up of men and women and targets poor and lower-middle-class Muslim families.
A worrying trend emerges from the FIRs: of more than 400 alleged victims, 70 percent are young men and women in their twenties or younger. Most of the victims are professionals, including engineers, Hafiz-e-Quran and graduates in various fields.
They are reportedly detained in Adiala Jail, Camp Jail, Kot Lakhpat Jail and Karachi Central Jail.
The petitioners revealed that they had approached the Federal Government with a formal request dated August 4, 2024, for the formation of a commission of inquiry into the Special Branch report. However, no action has been taken to date.
On Wednesday, Justice Khan first expressed his displeasure with the state authorities for their inaction and summoned the heads of the three institutions.
However, the order was revised and the hearing was adjourned to Friday.
