Religious scholar engineer Mirza Muhammad Ali. Photo: Archive
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday extended its order staying the Council of Islamic Ideology’s opinion finding engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza guilty of blasphemy until April 7 and sought the assistance of the attorney general in the next hearing.
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard a petition filed by Aslam Khaki challenging the council’s opinion against Mirza. Despite earlier court instructions, the attorney general did not appear in court.
Deputy Attorney General Usman Ghuman told the court that the attorney general was unavailable due to prior commitments and offered that the additional attorney general could appear in his place. Judge Kayani rejected the request and insisted that the attorney general attend personally, noting that he had already ordered him to assist the court.
The deputy attorney general then requested that a new date be set for the attorney general’s appearance. The court accepted the request and adjourned the hearing until April 7.
Read: Court grants bail to engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza in blasphemy case
Mirza was initially detained on August 27 by Jhelum police under Section 3 of Maintenance of Public Order. He was later shifted to jail and then handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency after a blasphemy case was registered against him.
The FIR, lodged at the Jhelum city police station, alleged that a video circulating online, originally uploaded on Mirza’s YouTube channel, contained blasphemous comments about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and a misinterpretation of Surah al-Nisa. The complainant said the video was offensive and violated Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
The case includes charges under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016. Section 295-C states that “whoever, whether by speech or writing, or by visible representation, or by imputation, implication or insinuation, directly or indirectly, desecrates the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death and may pay a penalty. fine.”
Read More: Blasphemy FIR filed against Engineer Mirza as Punjab Police denies custody
Article 11 of the PECA deals with the preparation and dissemination of information that promotes interreligious, sectarian or racial hatred and carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison and a fine.
Mirza is a well-known figure online with over three million subscribers on YouTube. He also runs the Quran-o-Sunnat Research Academy in Jhelum, which has been sealed by local authorities. No official reason has been given for the sealing.
He has faced similar accusations in the past. In May 2020, Mirza was charged with allegedly derogatory comments against other religious scholars and was subsequently released on bail. In 2023, he was again charged with blasphemy for comments about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his views on the Ahmadi community, but those charges were later dropped.
Blasphemy remains one of the most sensitive and controversial issues in Pakistan, with human rights groups repeatedly urging the government to prevent misuse of the law for personal or political purposes.
