Forensic report confirms claim that ice recovered from Matiullah Jan was not drugs

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday received a forensic report that a substance allegedly recovered from senior journalist Matiullah Jan was not drugs.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Inam Amin Minhas heard the case to determine whether charges under the Narcotics Act could be formally laid. After reviewing the report, the court referred the case back to the High Court for further consideration.

Jan said in a post on X that the Punjab Forensic Laboratory report presented to the court confirmed that the material allegedly recovered from him was “not drugs or ice.” He added that the high court remanded the application along with the laboratory report to the trial court and directed the government to submit a supplementary case.

“Finally, thanks to the government and non-government politicians who immediately declared this false case as false and fabricated after it was registered,” he wrote.

A day earlier, a special anti-terrorism court in Islamabad rejected another application filed by Jan and decided to proceed with terrorism charges against him. Judge Supra, who oversees both drug and terrorism cases, said the court had considered submissions from both the prosecution and the defense and would formally lay charges.

Jan had challenged the framing of the charges in the drug case, claiming there was no video evidence of drug recovery. The IHC had earlier given the prosecution additional time to submit forensic reports, but the police had failed to do so during the previous two hearings.

After Wednesday’s hearing, Jan described the X case as “false” and an “open attack on journalists and press freedom.” He said he was abducted from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad on November 27 while reporting on casualties at a PTI protest, following which a false FIR was lodged against him.

After hearing arguments, Judge Supra reserved his judgment on Jan’s application challenging the court’s jurisdiction and adjourned further proceedings until February 19.

Background

The Federal Capital Police filed a case against Jan alleging his involvement in terrorism and possession of narcotics following an incident at a check post in Islamabad.

According to the FIR filed by police inspector Asif Ali at Margalla police station, Jan was stopped at E-9 check post while driving a white Toyota Yaris towards F-10. The FIR alleges that the vehicle hit policemen and injured constable Mudassir. When the vehicle stopped due to a barrier, Jan allegedly exited the car, assaulted the constable and briefly seized his SMG rifle, which was later recovered by police.

The FIR further alleges that Jan acted under the influence of a narcotic, and a subsequent search of his car found 246 grams of methamphetamine under the driver’s seat. A 1 gram sample was collected for chemical testing and the car was impounded.

The case relies on Section 9(2)4 of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, which covers possession of psychotropic substances between 100 grams and 500 grams. It also cites Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 along with Sections 186, 279, 353, 382, ​​411, 427 and 506(ii) of the Pakistan Penal Code relating to assault, obstruction of public servants, theft, mischief and threats of assault.

The FIR was registered at 03.20 on Thursday almost an hour after the alleged incident. Jan’s family had earlier claimed that he was abducted from the parking lot of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences the previous evening, raising concerns over the circumstances that led to the filing of the FIR.