LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the prosecution to address the legal status of electronic evidence in the appeal of former university lecturer Junaid Hafeez against his death sentence in a blasphemy case — the first formal hearing of the appeal in nearly six years.
The bench, comprising Justice Sadiq Mahmood Khurram and Justice Jawad Zafar, heard the matter on Tuesday and directed the prosecution to satisfy the petitioner’s lawyers and the court regarding the electronic evidence against Hafeez.
Hafeez filed his appeal against the death sentence in the Lahore High Court on January 9, 2020. The case was taken up for its first formal hearing this week, nearly six years later. He was a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan.
The delay is the most striking fact in the file. Appeals in capital cases are, in principle, entitled to expeditious hearing, and long gaps between filing and hearing have repeatedly been identified as a structural weakness of the criminal justice system — one that carries an irreversible risk when the sentence under challenge is death.
According to Hafeez’s lawyer, Asad Jamal, a forensic examination of his client’s laptop and phone was not conducted, and therefore any material on those devices cannot be verified.
That argument goes to the heart of the prosecution case. Where digital material is central to a charge, the chain of custody and an authenticated forensic examination determine whether the material can be relied upon at all. Courts in Pakistan have increasingly examined such questions closely; the Lahore High Court has, in other matters, relied on forensic findings in reaching its conclusions, and has repeatedly set aside convictions on appeal where the evidentiary record did not hold.
Asad Jamal told the journalists that good progress was made on the appeal in court on Tuesday. Saif-ul-Muluk, who is part of Hafeez’s legal team, said that he is optimistic about the appeal hearing because it is the first time the case has been heard in a very long time.
A member of Hafeez’s family, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the family was very hopeful because the appeal had finally been heard after such a long time. The family member added that he was also optimistic because, in his words, there was nothing to the case.
The matter now rests on how the prosecution responds to the court’s direction on the admissibility and legal status of the electronic material. If the bench is not satisfied on that point, the evidentiary foundation of the conviction comes under direct scrutiny. If it is, the appeal will proceed to the remaining grounds.
The Lahore High Court has taken up several constitutionally sensitive matters in recent weeks, including a challenge in which a judge recused himself from hearing a petition against amendments to anti-terrorism law.
Blasphemy proceedings in Pakistan are reported under legal constraints that require particular care. This report confines itself to the procedural record of the appeal, the directions issued by the bench and statements made by counsel and the family. It does not reproduce or characterise the allegations, which remain before the court.
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