Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court remarked on Friday that the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) was a constitutional body and it should be closed down if its recommendations were not given due weight by the state institutions.
Justice Isa gave the remarks while hearing a bail petition of a suspect, Zahid Mahmood, in a blasphemy case. “How can the suspect defend his case when he is unaware of allegations made against him?” he asked while pointing out that even the trial court had not indicted him. He also reprimanded the public prosecutor for including the wrong sections in the case against the suspect.
He said the CII had ruled that Article 295C could not be evoked in the case. “The constitutional organisation should be shut down if its opinion was not given importance,” he said.
Justice Yahya Afridi raised questions over the trial court’s verdict of denying bail to the suspect despite an opinion of the top Islamic body.
Justice Isa said the cases related to religion could not be given in the hands of the public, adding that the state machinery should handle such matters in a proper way.
The top court said Mahmood was facing allegations of joining a WhatsApp group where an objectionable post was shared. It highlighted that the post was in the Arabic language and it’s yet to proven that the suspect had knowledge of that language. The court granted bail to the suspect against surety bonds worth Rs100,000 in the blasphemy case.
In June last, the FIA Cybercrime Wing registered a case against him. A trial court and high court have rejected his bail petition.