23/07/2019
2018 P Cr
Therefore, taking notice of significance of the issue, on the very first date of hearing, the learned Standing
Counsel for Federation as well as concerned officers from FIA, Multan, were summoned in the court.
6. When an act is declared to be an offence, it is responsibility of the State to adopt all legal measures firstly
to prevent such crimes and secondly if the said offence is committed then bring the culprits to book, put them
before the court for ultimate decision. In the same context Article 5 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of
Pakistan, 1973 deals with loyalty to state and obedience to the constitution and law, hence, it becomes
constitutional duty of the State functionaries to perform their duties to curb the crimes as defined in different
statutes of the country. With reference to this petition, the material appended with it clearly disclosed
commission of offences as detailed in Chapter XV of the Pakistan Penal Code. This court could not oversight
that the legislators had laid down specific provisions i.e. section 295C, P.P.C., etc., to cater similar situations
where any person uses derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet , by words, either spoken or
written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, and
thus defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet , the name of any wife (Ummul Mumineen), or members of
the family (Ahlebait) of the Holy Prophet , or any of the righteous Caliphs (KhulafaeRashideen) or
companions (Sahaaba) of the Holy Prophet . It was for the above reason that FIA authorities were directed to
receive an application/oral statement of the petitioner and after adopting the requisite proper procedure,
register a criminal case. This is quite a sensitive issue and the referred material clearly discloses that visible
intent behind such posts was to hurt the feelings of muslims all over the world and we also have the history
that whenever such unholy attempts were made, it worked as an ignition for the whole of our society and
whenever the state failed to respond quickly, the antagonists were responded befittingly by the masses, at
times by the individuals.
7. This court would remind the state agencies of preamble of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of
Pakistan, 1973 (now Article 2A of the Constitution), which provides that the principles of democracy,
freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed; the Muslims
shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings
and requirements of Islam as set down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, protection shall be provided to the
fundamental rights, including equality of status, of opportunity and before law, social, economic and political
justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject to law and public
morality.
8. As shall be seen from the preamble of our Constitution, the rights of every community have been delicately
balanced and freedom of speech/expression and information is also hallmark of our constitution, but the term
"right of expression" cannot be stretched to such an extent that it be used as a tool to defy the religious
thoughts or sacred personalities of one's religion. This court is of the clear view that under the umbrella of
"freedom of speech and information" not only the muslim community, in fact the followers of all the religions
have been made to suffer immensely e.g. Salman Rushdie wrote a book hurting the feelings of muslims all
over the world and his book was banned in 1988, James Laine characterized Shivaji (Shivaji Maharaj
Bhonsle) hurting the feelings of that sect, as a result Bhandarkar library was vandalized by the mob and
similarly Wendy Doniger wrote a book "The Hindus: An Alternative History" creating rage amongst Hindu
community. In view of the above, the right of expression cannot be allowed to thwart the feelings of any
religion on earth, because as a matter of fact distortion of any religion on the pretext of right of
speech/expression or information now amounts to another form of terrorism a fact that the international
community must now concede.
9. There can be no second opinion that advancement and use of technology has brought whole of the universe
into one global village and internet is now considered to be the most productive element in spreading, sharing
and developing knowledge and ideas, ultimately benefiting the public at large. Having observed that, this
court is well aware of the fact that despite all above pointed benefits, comparatively a few of the internet
users, for any reason whatsoever, have resorted to use it for destructive purpose. In this context we are aware
that the internet or for that matter other social forums like facebook, twitter, etc. unfortunately are being used,
by some of the elements, negatively, and by their such nefarious activities, the laws of the countries are being
violated, religious feelings of all kinds of communities are being hit, let it be said that all this is being done
under the cover of "freedom of expression" and "freedom of speech".
10. It is important to mention here that some individuals who can be counted on finger tips are of the view
that under Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, they carry
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