A man accused of posting obscene content on WhatsApp was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday, saying the urgent matter required further investigation.
According to JEE News, a two-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Qazi Isa and comprising Justice Yahya Afridi, granted bail to accused Zahid Mehmood on a surety bond of Rs.
On June 6, 2022, the Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Multan lodged a complaint against the accused.
After hearing the case, the trial court and the High Court rejected the bail plea of the accused, who later moved the Supreme Court for relief.
During the hearing on Friday, Justice Isa said that the trial court did not make any provision while indicting the accused.
“How will the accused fight his case when he does not know what crime he has committed?” Justice Isa asked the Deputy Attorney General.
The judge inquired whether the instant case falls under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). However, the Deputy Attorney General said that the investigating agency had investigated the matter in the complaint lodged against the accused.
Justice Isa told the law officer, ‘But at least you should know about this provision, which is applicable at the time of indictment of the accused.
The learned judge said that the FIA had also sought the opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CCI) in the instant case and the council, while giving its opinion, said that Section 295C of the PPC cannot be applied to the accused.
Justice Isa remarked that if the opinion of the Council, which is a constitutional body, is not being followed, it is better to close it down.
Justice Afridi said that the Supreme Court has recently given a verdict in the case of blasphemy. The judge asked the accused’s counsel on which date the CII gave its opinion.
The lawyer replied that the opinion came on June 8, 2022, on which occasion Justice Afridi asked the lawyer whether the trial court rejected the accused’s bail application despite the counsel’s recommendation.
We cannot give our opinion at this stage, Justice Afridi remarked that if the court gives its opinion, the matter pending in the High Court will be immediately affected.
While Justice Isa said that every case related to religion belongs to the state, he added that matters related to religion cannot be left in the hands of individuals but should be handled competently and carefully by the state machinery.
“State machinery should not be handed over to individuals to deal with such cases,” the judge said.
Meanwhile, the court expressed displeasure over the FIA investigation, saying that the trial court framed charges against the accused without inserting the relevant section.
The court added that further investigation was required in the matter as the alleged content posted on WhatsApp was in Arabic.
On the contrary, the investigation failed to establish whether the complainant knew Arabic or not. Similarly, the court said that the investigation also failed to establish how the complainant came to know about the alleged content posted on WhatsApp.
