A district court judge in Lahore directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to proceed under the law if any cognisable offence was made out after receiving the opinion of the Ulema Board on a petition seeking an FIR against former president Dr Arif Alvi over his alleged blasphemous remarks in a video that circulated on social media.
However, Additional District and Sessions Judge Shafqat Shahbaz Raja disposed of the petition, filed by Shehzada Adnan through advocate Mudassir Chaudhry, contending that former president Alvi had used alleged blasphemous language in a video circulated on the internet.
The FIA, in its reply to the petition, stated that a regular inquiry had been registered and marked to Abdul Basit, Sub-Inspector of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). The petitioner joined the inquiry proceedings and submitted evidence regarding his complaint.
The subject video of former president Alvi had been sent to the Ulema Board for a fatwa, and proceedings would be finalised purely on merit after receiving the reply from the board. The FIA said that the inquiry officer was bound to proceed further after receiving the opinion of the Ulema Board.
The petitioner’s counsel opposed the FIA’s stance, contending that the Ulema’s fatwa had no relevance to the registration of the FIR. He further argued that not everything in the video clip was audible.
However, Judge Raja disposed of the petition, directing the FIA to conclude the proceedings after receiving the reply of the Ulema Board and, if a cognisable offence was made out, to proceed under the law.
Earlier, another court had dismissed the petition because the petitioner had approached an inappropriate forum. That court noted that the government had established the NCCIA to deal with social media-related matters. Therefore, the petitioner could approach the NCCIA for the redressal of his grievance.
Earlier, the petitioner had approached the police (an inappropriate forum) for the redressal of his grievance.
After that, the petitioner again approached the district and sessions court seeking an FIR against Dr Alvi.
