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• SC sets aside death sentences upheld by LHC
• Observes findings on mental illness raise doubts about culpability

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Saturday acquitted two brothers in a blasphemy case under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), setting aside their death sentences earlier upheld by the Lahore High Court (LHC) over a decade ago.

A three-judge SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi and comprising Justices Shakeel Ahmad and Ishtiaq Ibrahim, took up criminal appeals against the Sept 17, 2015 decision of the LHC.

The brothers, Liaqat Ali and Umar Draz, have spent around 20 years behind bars. They were convicted by a sessions judge in Jhang on March 27, 2006. The trial court sentenced both brothers to death and imposed a fine of Rs500,000 each, with five years’ rigorous imprisonment in default. The high court dismissed their appeals and upheld the convictions.

The main SC judgement was authored by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim. Justice Shakeel Ahmad concurred with the order but also annexed an additional note.

According to the complaint, Umar Draz had begun making explicit blasphemous statements, leading to a marital dispute between him and his wife that culminated in divorce on March 13, 2006. Draz explicitly affirmed in writing his conversion from Islam in the divorce papers.

During the return of his former wife’s dowry articles, a written document auth­ored by co-appellant Liaqat Ali was recovered. It also contained blasphemous assertions.

On March 18, 2006, when the complainant and witnesses confronted the brothers over the alleged blasphemous material, both appellants acknowledged and verified the contents of the documents and unequivocally declared their willingness to reiterate their assertions before any forum.

Before the SC, their counsel confined his submissions to the plea of mental unsoundness, arguing that the appellants lacked the requisite mens rea (guilty mind) at the time of the alleged offence.

The SC examined three psychiatric assessments. An initial three-member medical board at DHQ Hospital, Faisalabad, found both appellants mentally sound in 2007. However, an eight-member Board of Certification diagnosed them with “bipolar affective disorder with psychotic symptoms” in 2023.

A nine-member Board of Certification in September 2025 concluded that both brothers were suffering from “bipolar disorder current episode manic”. It described the condition as a chronic illness that was most likely permanent in acute cases, with absent insight and an inability to understand their acts at the time.

The SC observed that the unanimous opinions of specialised boards comprising senior professors of psychiatry carried greater weight than the earlier assessm­ent by a board with only one psychiatrist.

It also noted that bipolar disorder was episodic and had a genetic component, and that both brothers had been independently diagnosed with the same condition.

“The appellants have spent around 20 years behind bars. In the light of the opinion of medical board which raises doubts regarding the culpability of the appellants, the benefit of doubt cannot be withheld from the appellants,” the judgement said.

While acquitting the appellants, the SC also expected the executive director of the Punjab Institute of Mental Health, Lahore, to ensure that their medical treatment was not discontinued.

Additional note

In his concurring note, Justice Ahmad agreed with the acquittal but cautioned that a psychiatric diagnosis alone did not satisfy the requirements of Section 84 of the PPC. The judge distinguished medical insanity from legal insanity, noting that the key question was whether, at the time of the offence, the accused was incapable of knowing the nature of the act or that it was wrong or contrary to law.

He argued that legal accountability had to be balanced with humanity, explaining that true justice also included mercy when the law recognised a person’s lack of mental capacity.

The note said the medical reports, along with the surrounding circumstances, created reasonable doubt. It also referred to Islamic principles of legal capacity and responsibility.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2026

Source: dawn

MUZAFFARABAD: Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) president Raja Mohammad Zulqarnain Khan died at a hospital in Islamabad on Saturday after a brief illness. He was 93.

The AJK government announced a day of official mourning on Sunday, during which the state’s flag would fly at half-mast. It also ordered his burial with full state honours in his native town of Kasguma, Bhimber district, following funeral prayers at 11am on Sunday.

Born on March 15, 1933, Raja Zulqarnain was the son of Khan Bahadur Raja Mohammad Afzal Khan, an ICS officerfrom the Chib Rajput tribe who served in Maharaja Hari Singh’s administration. He was granted an estate in present-day Bhimber district.

Raja Zulqarnain received his early education in Srinagar and Delhi before joining Lawrence College, Ghora Gali, at the age of 13. His contemporaries there included former prime minister Zafarullah Jamali and former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Akbar Bugti. After graduating from Government College, Lahore, in 1955, he entered the construction business in 1958 by establishing United Builders in Karachi. The company subsequently undertook projects in Pakistan, AJK, UAE and Iraq.

Raja Zulqarnain entered politics in 1960-61 as an associate of KH Khurshid, former AJK president and private secretary to Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He was elected chairman of his native union council, Kasguma,in the first elections held under the Basic Democracies system introduced by Gen Ayub Khan in Pakistan and subsequently adopted in AJK under Mr Khurshid. When Mr Khurshid founded the Jammu Kashmir Liberation League in 1962, he appointed Raja Zulqarnain its founding secretary general.He remained deeply influenced byhis mentor’s political outlook and personal manner.

Ahead of AJK’s first general elections under the parliamentary system in 1975, Raja Zulqarnain joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Samahni. Following the restoration of political activities after Gen Ziaul Haq’s martial law, he joined the Muslim Conference (MC) and won the 1985 election from Bhimberon its ticket. He served in Sardar Sikandar Hayat’s cabinet for five years.

In 1990, he lost the assembly election to PPP candidate Chaudhry Sohbat Ali. He returned to the assembly in 1991 and served in Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan’s cabinet for five years. In 1996, the MC secured his election to the AJK Council.

In the general elections held that year, he backed Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, who was elected to the assembly for the first time. Their political association, however, ended amid local rivalries ahead of the 2001 election, when Mr Farooq contested as an independent and defeated Raja Zulqarnain.

In 2006, Raja Zulqarnain opposed Mr Farooq, the MC nominee, helping Chaudhry Anwarul Haq win his first assembly seat by a narrow margin. In August that year, the Muslim Conference elected him AJK president, a position he held until August 2011.

He continued to support Mr Haq in the 2011 and 2016 elections, both of which Mr Farooq won. In 2021, Mr Haq, then a PTI candidate, secured his second victory with Raja Zulqarnain’s support. The former president subsequently became disenchanted with Mr Haq.

In April this year, a PML-N delegation called on Raja Zulqarnain and invited him to formally join the party. His son, Babar Ali Zulqarnain, announced his father’s decision to join the PML-Nat a public meeting in Bhimber the following month and was appointed a party vice president.

In his condolence message, AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq described Raja Zulqarnain’s death as a major loss for the political, parliamentary and social circles of Jammu and Kashmir.

Former AJK premier Sardar Tanveer Ilyas also expressed deep sorrow over Raja Zulqarnain’s death.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2026

Source: dawn