Pindi Bench alleges serious procedural deficiencies and lack of forensic evidence in his acquittal
LHC Bench Rawalpindi. Photo: Archive
The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court quashed the death sentence passed on Aneeqa Atiq, who had been convicted in a high-profile blasphemy case, investigated by the FIA’s cybercrime wing in Rawalpindi.
On Tuesday, the court acquitted Aneeqa on technical grounds, citing serious procedural deficiencies in the prosecution’s case. Delivering its sentence, the court, comprising Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan and Justice Waheed Khan, observed that the conviction could not be sustained as the prosecution failed to satisfy the court with basic legal and evidentiary requirements.
The court noted that the accused and the complainant were not related and that no legal or personal relationship had been established between them. He further noted that no forensic examination had been carried out on the mobile phone allegedly belonging to the accused, nor was there evidence that the handheld device was actually her property.
Furthermore, complainant Hassanat Farooq’s mobile phone was never subjected to forensic testing and the prosecution did not present any evidence to prove any direct or verifiable link between the two.
The complainant’s lawyer contended that Farooq and Atiq had met while playing the online game PUBG, during which the alleged exchange of offensive messages took place. However, the court concluded that such acquaintance did not constitute evidence of guilt, particularly in the absence of forensic corroboration or verified communication records.
Consequently, the court declared the death sentence void on technical grounds, noting that the legal requirements for such a sentence had not been met.
Atiq had been kept in a death cell at Adiala Jail for the past three years. The FIA Cyber Crime Branch had registered the case against her in 2020, and in 2022, an additional district and sessions judge sentenced her to death and forfeiture of property under sections 295-A, 295-C and 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The defense argued that the case was baseless and malicious, claiming that Atiq had been falsely implicated in a “conspiracy-driven prosecution.” His lawyer argued that there was no credible evidence to show that he had ever sent blasphemous messages through WhatsApp.
Following the announcement of the short order, defense lawyer Raja Imran Khalil Advocate told reporters that the court had acquitted his client on purely technical grounds, without delving into the merits of the case, and confirmed his intention to challenge the verdict before the Supreme Court.
The written sentence will be sent to Adiala prison, after which Atiq’s release is expected at the end of this week.
