The Supreme Court of Pakistan has overturned an order by the Balochistan High Court and exonerated an accused facing life imprisonment on allegations of desecrating the Holy Quran. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who was heading a three-member Supreme Court bench, had taken up an appeal by Khuda Bakhsh against the BHC’s upholding of life imprisonment earlier awarded by a session court. Justice Khosa said that “the high court, as well as the lower court, should not have punished the accused since the allegations levelled against him did not fulfil the requirement of the blasphemy laws under Section 295(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code.” Justice Khosa added that neither the allegations were proved nor any evidence was truly appreciated. Justice Dost Mohammad Khan, another member of the bench, also asked the government to make policies regarding old newspapers which have verses from the Holy Quran printed, in order to ensure the holy scriptures are not desecrated. The apex court on the occasion regretted that the high court and the trial court awarded life imprisonment without realising that the allegation of burning the Holy Quran was never proved, as punishment for any offence should be handed down after the offence has been establishedin accordance with the law. Justice Khosa also asked on the occasion whether anyone had an idea where newspapers with verses from the Holy Quran went after being read. Justice Khan said that sometimes writings in Arabic were misconstrued as the holy scriptures and it may have transpired that the accused learnt from his elders to burn them. The decision comes only a day after a Lahore High Court Bench acquitted a man who was sentenced to death over blasphemy allegations five years ago. The accused had also been awarded 10-year jail term and fined Rs 200,000 by a lower court. These are just a few examples of the misuse of the blasphemy law and the condition of ajudicial system in the country. The accused linger in jails, and the societal attitude towards the taboo topic of blasphemy further deteriorates the situation as it has been reported on many occasions that the accused were not able to find counsel as no lawyer was ready to take up their cases, fearing for their lives. Accusing a person of blasphemy is a matter of few words and the authorities hardly look at any evidence before arresting the accused. Both the aforementioned decisions are steps in the right directions as the court has rightly noted the lack of evidence in both cases as well as pointed out the apathy of the judges of the lower courts towards these cases.There is an urgent need to reform the century old blasphemy laws in the country. Yes, the nature of the topic is sensitive, but it cannot be just left for the clerics to interpret and give a judgement of their liking. The law has been misused to settle personal scores on numerous occasions, in particular against the people of minority communities. Unless a public debate starts on the topic and the bullying powers of Mullahs is taken away, such incidents of sheer injustice will continue. *