ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on Friday said that a person making false accusation of blasphemy against someone should be charged with two counts.
During hearing of a blasphemous content case registered against five people, Justice Siddiqui remarked that without credible evidence, no action could be taken against the accused.
“It is up to the court to decide whether the evidence against the accused persons is sufficient or if they were wrongly accused of blasphemy,” he said.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) admitted that no credible evidence was found against the five people who were accused of publishing blasphemous content on the internet.
The FIA officials informed the IHC that the agency is carrying out its work successfully; despite having only 15 investigation officers to tackle around 12,000 complaints of cybercrime that were received by the office.
On Dec 16, Justice Siddiqui had said that he would even summon the prime minister if he had to in connection with the blasphemous content on social media case.
Earlier in August, Justice Siddiqui, in his 116-page verdict, citing references from the Holy Quran and Hadith, ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to devise a strategy to curb blasphemous material on social networking websites.
In March, Justice Siddiqui had ordered placing the name of alleged blasphemers on the Exit Control List (ECL).
He also directed authorities to initiate criminal cases against those committing blasphemy and to form a joint investigation team to look into the matter.