Council | Pakistan

• Verdict authored by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani declares Council’s 2025 opinion against Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza ‘null and void’ • Judgement says advisory body overstepped its constitutional mandate under Articles 229 and 230 ISLAMABAD: In a landmark verdict, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has no legal authority to issue opinions on the criminal culpability of individuals. In a detailed order written prior to his transfer to the Lahore High Court, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani declared the CII’s 2025 opinion, which labelled cleric-turned-YouTuber Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza a blasphemer, as “illegal, without lawful authority, and null and void”. The court held that the constitutional body had grossly overstepped its mandate by entertaining a reference from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) against him. The judgement stressed that under Articles 229 and 230 of the Constitution, the CII’s advisory jurisdiction is strictly limited to p...