Abuse of blasphemy law in Pakistan, High Court directed to set up commission for investigation

A Pakistan court has directed the central government to set up an inquiry commission in 30 days to investigate the alleged misuse of the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.

Questions have been raised about the blasphemy laws in Pakistan because in such cases often the crowd targets people regardless of the legal process. Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan ordered the formation of an inquiry commission on Tuesday (July 15, 2025) to investigate the misuse of these laws.

The military ruler Ziaul Haq made these laws more rigid in the 1980s to protect the sanctity of the Prophet and the Quran. The court passed this order during a hearing on a case related to several complaints of blasphemy.

It is alleged that some officers, lawyers and other persons of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) conspired to implicate the innocent people in the blasphemy case and later used it to threaten the money by threatening legal action.

It is alleged that those who refused to pay money were allegedly prosecuted under blasphemy laws. In the last few years, several persons accused of blasphemy were murdered by religious extremists.

This petition was first filed in September last year. The court heard at least 42 times before directing the federal government to constitute the Inquiry Commission. Justice Khan said that the Commission will have to complete the investigation in four months, although if necessary, it can request the court to extend the deadline.

According to data from the think-tank Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), between 1947 and 2021, 701 blasphemy cases were registered, including 1,308 men and 107 women, including 1,415 people, were found accused. At least 89 people were killed and 30 were injured in these cases. Among those killed were 72 men and 17 women.

The data shows that after the amendments presented by Jiaul Haq in 1986, there was a rapid increase in cases when the blasphemy was made a death penalty. Prior to these amendments, only 11 cases were registered and three people were killed.