The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has withdrawn its earlier order summoning the directors general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as well as the chairman of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) for a hearing scheduled for Friday.

The case relates to a judicial investigation into alleged organized digital fraud.

“This order is a partial amendment to the order passed earlier today. In the earlier order, the Secretaries of the Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Human Rights and the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Directors General of FIA and IB and the Chairman of the NCHR were directed to appear in person on the next date,” Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan stated in a revised order issued later that day.

However, the judge noted that after a detailed review of the case files in the departments after the hearing, the need for their personal appearance seemed premature. This was primarily because the FIA’s response indicated that despite written requests to the Special Branch of the Punjab Police for evidence supporting its report – the central focus of the writ – no such evidence was produced.

Further, the contact person appointed by the SSP (Intelligence) Rawalpindi failed to submit any material in support of the report except general information.

The amended order also highlighted inconsistencies in the case that paragraph 4 of the petition claims that 90 percent of the complainants in the FIRs were members of the gang mentioned in the FactFocus report dated 29.01.2024, but a quick scan of the FIRs attached with the petition tends to show that this is not the case.

The order added that for now only the assistance of the petitioner’s lawyer and the Additional Attorney General is required. However, the Inspector General of Punjab Police has been asked to appoint a learned officer to assist the court in response to the FIA’s claim that no substantial material implicating the alleged gang was provided despite their prevalence.

Over 100 victims’ families, represented by lawyers Abid Saqi and Usman Warraich, had petitioned the high court for the formation of a judicial commission.

They based their plea on a report by the Punjab Special Branch titled “The Blasphemy Business”. The report alleged that a suspected gang had trapped youths in blasphemy cases and extorted money from them after lodging complaints with the FIA ​​in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The petition claims that this gang is the complainant in almost 90 percent of blasphemy cases registered by the FIA. The group, which operates under the name “Legal Commission on Blasphemy”, is said to be made up of both men and women, targeting poor and lower-middle-class Muslim families.

A troubling pattern emerges in the FIRs: Out of over 400 alleged victims, 70 percent are young men and women in their twenties or younger. Many of the victims are professionals including engineers, Hafiz-e-Quran and degree holders in various fields.

They are reportedly detained in Adiala Jail, Camp Jail, Kot Lakhpat Jail and Karachi Central Jail.

The petitioners disclosed that they had approached the federal government with a formal request dated August 4, 2024 requesting the formation of a commission of inquiry into the Special Branch’s report. However, nothing has been done to date.

On Wednesday, Justice Khan initially expressed displeasure with state authorities for their inaction and summoned the heads of the three institutions.

However, the order has been revised and the hearing has been postponed until Friday.