ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has acquitted a 74-year-old Christian in a blasphemy case after 23 years in prison, most of which he spent confined in a death cell due to his mental disorder.
“The appellant is over seventy-four years of age and has spent about twenty-three years in prison, most of which was spent in the death cell. The ruling of the Medical Board raises doubts about the guilt of the appellant and its benefit cannot be denied in the facts and circumstances of this case. The benefit of the doubt is therefore extended in favor of the appellant and he is accordingly acquitted of the charge leveled in his against.
The judgments of the High Court and the trial court dated 30.06.2014 and 18.07.2002, respectively, are set aside. If the appellant should not be imprisoned for any other matter, he will be released immediately. We hope that the Executive Director of PIMH will ensure that the appellant’s medical treatment is not interrupted,” said a nine-page judgment written by Justice Athar Minallah while hearing a blasphemy case pending before the apex court since 2014.
Justice Irfan Sadaat Khan and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan were also part of the bench that heard this matter.
The case is known to have been brought before various courts more than a dozen times since 2017, but could not be decided.
According to the facts of the case, pursuant to a complaint filed by Inspector Nasrullah Khan Niazi, SHO Gawalmandi Police Station, Lahore, the case was registered for commission of alleged offense under Section 295-C of Pakistan Penal Code, 1868 on September 28, 2001.
The complaint concerned a letter dated August 27, 2001, addressed to Haji Mehmood Zafar. The entire letter was reproduced in the crime report.
The appellant was arrested in September 2001 and after completion of the investigation, a report was submitted to the competent court under section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The appellant pleaded guilty to the charge against him on 28 June 2002.
In his statement recorded under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the appellant, Anwar Kenneth, admitted to having written the letter dated August 27, 2001.
The trial court, at the conclusion of the trial, convicted the appellant of the commission of the alleged crime under Article 295-C of the PPC and sentenced him to death. He was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 500,000 which, in case of non-compliance, would be recovered as arrears of land revenue.
The high court responded affirmatively to the reference; Therefore, the death sentence was confirmed and the appeal was accordingly dismissed on June 30, 2014. Three years later, the Supreme Court heard his prison petition and granted him leave on December 15, 2017.
The offensive letter was sent to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) in December last year. The IIC submitted an interim report on September 13, 2024.
After examining the file, Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH), Lahore, was directed to constitute a medical board and submit a report after evaluating the appellant.
The doctor of the Lahore Central Jail, through a letter dated January 1, 2025, addressed to the Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab, informed that the appellant had been examined by specialist doctors of the PIMH and was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder, which was in the hypomanic stage.
The medical board had recommended that the appellant be admitted to PIMH for treatment. He entered on December 31, 2024.
On February 11, the court directed the Executive Director of PIMH to constitute a medical board in the light of the principles enunciated by the court in the Safia Bano case.
The board was duly constituted and, after detailed examination, its findings were submitted to the Supreme Court on May 30.
The board found that the convict was suffering from bipolar affective disorder and recommended his admission to the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) for treatment.
The ruling indicates that the opinion of the medical board, made up of eight doctors specializing in the field of psychiatry, confirmed that the appellant suffered from a serious mental disorder and that it was diagnosed for the first time when he was examined in December 2024. The opinion also confirmed that the content of the letter reflected the typical symptoms of the diagnosed mental disorder, the ruling states.
The court noted that the content of the letter clearly indicated that its author was suffering from a mental disorder.
“The appellant’s conduct during the investigation and trial was not that of a normal and sane person. The content of the letter reflected signs of grandeur, hallucinations and delusions of ideas. Although the abnormality was obvious from the conduct and content of the letter, neither the prosecution nor the trial court had the appellant undergo a medical examination by specialists in the field of psychiatry,” the ruling reads.
