A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday suspended a single-member bench’s order to the federal government to constitute a commission to investigate blasphemy allegations.

 

Last week, widespread concerns over alleged entrapment, custodial deaths, and grave investigative lapses, prompted the IHC to give the government 30 days to establish a commission to probe misuse of the blasphemy law, giving the order during the hearing of a case seeking such a commission’s formation. 

 

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IHC Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan ordered the commission to complete its work within four months while allowing the possibility for an extension.

 

A lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, Rao Abdur Rahim, and others had filed an intra-court appeal against Justice Ejaz’s verdict. The case was heard on Thursday by Justices Khadim Hussain Soomro and Azam Khan.

 

Advocates Kamran Murtaza, Adil Aziz Qazi, and others appeared before the court on behalf of Rahim. When Justice Soomro asked how petitioners were directly affected by the order, Murtaza argued that they had not been given a full hearing. 

 

“There are four hundred cases and some cases are beyond the jurisdiction of this court,” Murtaza said. “Can a commission be formed in this case,” he questioned.

 

The bench subsequently suspended Justice Ejaz's order from last week and issued notices to the parties.

 

During last week’s hearing, Justice Ejaz expressed concern over the disappearance of a woman named Komal Ismail, the elusive central figure linked to the blasphemy-related case.

 

Ismail had been identified as ‘Imaan’, a shadowy figure who was allegedly involved in "trapping" a number of those accused of blasphemy.

 

Earlier this month, over her failure to appear before the court, the judge had ordered her CNIC to be blocked.

 

The IHC also expressed concern over the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) failure to conduct proper forensic analysis and procedural irregularities, including private arrests, unverified digital evidence, and the same Facebook IDs being reused in multiple FIRs.

 

Most alarming were the reports of four custodial deaths of blasphemy suspects, with one video showing signs of torture, and no judicial or administrative inquiry conducted in these cases.

 

Stressing that the issue was of “definite public interest,” the court had justified the formation of a commission as necessary to ensure transparency, accountability, and the protection of fundamental rights.