SHC grants bail to eight persons charged with spreading sacrilegious content

The Sindh High Court has granted bail to eight persons who were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency in a case pertaining to charges of spreading blasphemous content on social media, observing that the case requires further inquiry.

The suspects were booked by the FIA on a complaint that the applicants and others were involved in disseminating/displaying blasphemous material, including images/sketches, graphics, pictures and videos, on social media.

According to the prosecution, each complainant as a proof has submitted different mobile phone numbers with their complaint from which such content was being spread, uploaded and transmitted to different users of mobile phones. They also submitted screenshots of the alleged material for a probe. The applicants were charge-sheeted in courts under sections 9, 10, and 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA), read with sections 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A, and 34 of the PPC.

The applicants’ counsel pleading for bail in all these cases have relied upon such orders granting bail to the accused in identical cases. They submitted that applicants are innocent, have been falsely implicated in the case; the seizure memo reflects that two mobile numbers were recovered from the applicants but none of them is mentioned in the FIR; besides, no specific role has been assigned to the applicants.

The counsel submitted that the applicants were not creators of the content but are either receivers or transmitters thereof and the FIA has not identified the creator of such material. They said that since the lodging of the FIR, no independent forensic report of the mobile phones has been obtained by the FIA and the FIA official who has allegedly examined mobile phones has not been made a witness in the case.

The counsel said that the entire evidence is based on documentary evidence or recovery of mobile phones which are already in possession of the FIA; therefore, there was no chance of any tampering with prosecution evidence by the applicants and sought their bail.

The counsel for the complainants and state counsel opposed bail to the applicants stating that the applicants are involved in the heinous offence whereby sentiments of Muslims have been breached and they were arrested alongwith evidence in the shape of mobile phones and sims which they were using for operating WhatsApp groups involved in uploading/transmitting and spreading blasphemous content; hence, they are not entitled to concession of bail.

A single high court bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro after hearing the arguments of the counsel observed that record shows that a number of applicants are not named in the FIR and it was only through an inquiry or investigation that they were identified on the basis of possession of mobile phones and sims.

The court observed that the record does not reflect that recovered material has been subjected to a forensic examination by a third party. The court observed that charge sheets in these cases show that examination of all the seized digital equipment has been carried out by a technical assistant of the FIA, CCRC Karachi, and till the submission of the charge sheets, the digital forensic analysis report from digital forensic lab had not been received and was awaited.

The court observed that only on the basis of a report of technical assistant, whose authority and authenticity are yet to be decided, the charge sheets have been submitted in the court.

It further observed that the question whether simply on the basis of a report of technical assistant it can be prima facie held that the applicants are accused of the alleged offence is yet to be determined.

The court observed that it is admitted by FIA officials during the course of the hearing that the original creator of such contents has not been identified nor the original source of such material and reportedly, the source is situated abroad in different countries.

The SHC said that it is prima facie clear that the investigation of the FIA is restricted to only one aspect of the case, i.e. recovery of mobile phones using alleged WhatsApp groups by the applicants. It observed that the scheme and object behind the alleged offence i.e. getting different Pakistani youths involved therein has neither been identified by the FIA nor any attempt has been made by it to go deep and dug out the actual devil behind it.

The court observed that the FIA has condescended to remain complacent over the optics only and has nabbed, so far, immature youths found taking interest in watching lucid websites and nothing otherwise has been brought on record to outweigh the obtaining opinion in the circumstances that the FIA in this case has shirked its duty and has failed to track the actual obnoxious plan behind the whole scheme and the actual actors getting the young ones trapped in such activities.

The high court stated that the final charge sheet does not specifically show whether data extracted from the mobile phones allegedly recovered from the applicants were edited by them or they have simply forwarded the material after receipt thereof from some unknown user and whether such blasphemous graphics are fake or genuine. The court observed that the case against the applicants is of further inquiry and they are entitled to bail. The court granting bail to applicants observed that the observations made in the bail order are tentative in nature and would not prejudice the case of either party at trial.