Silenced

Online speech and its consequences in Pakistan, 2016 to present

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Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860

About this law

Pakistan's main criminal code, enacted in 1860 and amended many times since. It defines most crimes and their punishments. The sections tracked here are those reports cite in speech cases: conspiracy and sedition-type offences (121-A, 131), promoting enmity between groups (153-A), statements causing public mischief (505), criminal intimidation (506), and the blasphemy laws (295-A to 298-C).

A plain-language explanation, not legal advice. The official text always takes precedence.

Official text

The official consolidated text, published by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Pakistan Code:

Act page on Pakistan Code ↗ Official PDF ↗

Sections in the Legal Library

Recent incidents citing this law

The following verified cases are currently mapped on Silenced under this law.

103 verified incidents whose report cites this law; the newest 50 are shown. Citations are read automatically from news reports and can be incomplete; inclusion does not verify the allegation.

  1. Mentally challenged man held for blasphemy

    · Sahiwal, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-B

    SAHIWAL: Kasowal police on Friday arrested a man and registered a case against him on charges of desecrating the Holy Quran at Adda Iqbalnagar. Reports said Sub-Inspector Muhammad Ali of Okanwala Bangla police station was travelling with his team in an official vehicle when they received a call on 15 about the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  2. Four sentenced to death in Lahore in 2022 blasphemy case

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    LAHORE: A sessions court on Saturday sentenced four men to death in a 2022 blasphemy case registered by the then cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Each convict was sentenced to death and fined Rs500,000 under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), and given life imprisonment under Section 295-B.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  3. HRCP report paints grim picture of minority rights

    · Sheikhupura, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C

    Similarly, girls belonging to Christian and Hindu communities continued to face abductions and forced marriages, compounded by poverty and inadequate police responses, the report said. Minority rights defender Nabila Feroz Bhatti highlighted the case of Kamran Gill, a Christian medical practitioner from Sheikhupura, whose dispensary was set ablaze by a mob on Oct 9 following allegations that he had shared blasphemous content on social media.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  4. شیخوپورہ: توہین مذہب کے الزام میں مشتعل ہجوم نے مسیحی شخص کا گھر اور دکان نذر آتش کردیا: ’ابو نے کہا ضروری چیزیں اٹھاؤ اور فوراً گھر سے نکلو‘

    · Sheikhupura, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295, 298, 298-A

    پنجاب کے ضلع شیخوپورہ کی تحصیل نارنگ منڈی کے گاؤں گھڑیال کلاں میں توہین مذہب کے الزام پر مشتعل ہجوم کی جانب سے ایک مسیحی شخص کا گھر اور دکان نذر آتش کیے جانے کے بعد مسیحی برادری میں خوف کا احساس ہے جبکہ پولیس نے ملزم کے خلاف توہین مذہب جبکہ مشتعل ہجوم میں شامل افراد کے خلاف انسدادِ دہشت گردی کی دفعات کے تحت دو مختلف…

    View on map · BBC Urdu ↗

  5. قصور میں جلا کر قتل کیا گیا مسیحی جوڑا اور انصاف کے منتظر اہلخانہ کی کہانی: ’مطلب ہمارے لوگ قتل ہی نہیں ہوئے؟‘

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C

    ماخذ کے مطابق آن لائن سرگرمی سے منسلک ہجوم کا تشدد کی اطلاع: «YouTube پوسٹ کا اختتام مواد دستیاب نہیں ہے فیصلے میں استغاثہ کے مقدمے میں موجود تضادات کو بریت کی بنیادی وجہ قرار دیا گیا۔»

    View on map · BBC Urdu ↗

  6. انڈین پرچم اور ’جے ہند‘ کا نعرہ پوسٹ کرنے کے الزام میں مہمند میں دو افراد گرفتار

    · Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Speech Consequences · Arrest · Law cited: PPC 153-A

    پاکستان کے ضلع مہمند میں پولیس نے انڈیا کے یوم آزادی پر سوشل میڈیا پر انڈیا کے پرچم کی تصاویر اور ’جے ہند‘ کے الفاظ شیئر کرنے پر دو افراد کو گرفتار کر کے جیل بھیج دیا ہے۔ بی بی سی اردو کو دستیاب ایف آئی آرز کے مطابق ملزمان کو پاکستان پینل کوڈ کی دفعات 123 اے اور 153 اے کے تحت گرفتار کیا گیا تھا، جو اشتعال پھیلانے اور ریاست کی خودمختاری کی مخالفت کرنے کے حوالے سے ہیں۔

    View on map · BBC Urdu ↗

  7. Why regime change won't save free speech in Pakistan

    · Lahore, Punjab · Speech Consequences · FIR · Law cited: PPC 124-A

    The views of the masses, the printing presses, the online spaces, are met with charge sheets and FIRs. Then the law falls back on a more violent species of colonial control: the act of preventive detention, which allows individuals to be imprisoned without trial for crimes they haven’t even committed.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  8. فوج کے خلاف مبینہ مہم کے مقدمے میں نورین نیازی کی حفاظتی ضمانت منظور

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 20, 26-A; PPC 505, 506

    جبکہ نورین نیازی کی حفاظتی ضمانت منظور کرتے ہوئے این سی سی آئی اے کو انھیں گرفتار کرنے سے روکا گیا ہے۔ ایف آئی آر کے مطابق متنازع انٹرویو سوشل میڈیا پلیٹ فارم ایکس (سابقہ ٹوئٹر) کے مختلف اکاؤنٹس سے شیئر کیا گیا اور بعد ازاں وائرل ہو گیا۔

    View on map · BBC Urdu ↗

  9. Creators, admins of WhatsApp groups not criminally liable for posts made by members: LHC

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    LAHORE: In a case pertaining to blasphemy, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday held that the “mere creation or administration of a WhatsApp group does not, by itself, make the creator or administrator criminally liable for every post made by its members”. The court issued the directives while denying post-arrest bail to a man accused of uploading and sharing blasphemous content through WhatsApp groups.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  11. کراچی، خاتون کو نازیبا اشارے اور گھر میں گھس کر ہراساں کرنے والا پڑوسی گرفتار

    · Karachi, Sindh · Speech Consequences · Arrest · Law cited: PPC 506

    شہر قائد میں رضویہ سوسائٹی پولیس نے جہانگیر آباد میں خاتون کو نازیبا اشارے اور گھر میں گھس کر ہراساں کرنے کے الزام میں پڑوسی کو گرفتار کر کے مقدمہ درج کرلیا۔ خاتون کی جانب سے گرفتار ملزم کی اپنے گھر کی کھڑکی سے خاتون کو نازیبا اشارے کرنے کی ویڈیو بھی سوشل میڈیا پر وائرل ہوئی تھی مذکورہ واقعہ گزشتہ ماہ 30 مئی کی دوپہر پیش آیا تھا۔

    View on map · Daily Express ↗

  12. Pakistan: Quash Longstanding Blasphemy Case

    · Multan, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C

    (New York) – Pakistani authorities should quash the unjust conviction of Junaid Hafeez, who was sentenced to death in 2013 under Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws, Human Rights Watch said today. Hafeez’s 13 years in prison raise grave concerns about the lack of due process and the broader misuse of the country’s blasphemy laws.

    View on map · Human Rights Watch ↗

  14. NCCIA moves appeal before Supreme Court in blasphemy case

    · Rawalpindi, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11, 295-A, 295-C, 298-A; PPC 295-A, 295-C, 298-A

    ISLAMABAD: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court, challenging the October 28, 2025, acquittal of an Islamabad-based woman by the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench in a blasphemy case.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  15. Supreme Court acquits man on death row for ‘blasphemy’

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C

    ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has acquitted a 74-year-old Christian man, who was diagnosed with a mental illness, of blasphemy charges after overturning the June 30, 2014 Lahore High Court’s (LHC) order confirming his death sentence.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  16. اسلام آباد، تشدد کے شکار صحافی کی درخواست پر علیمہ خان سمیت 40 کارکنوں پر مقمہ درج

    · Rawalpindi, Punjab · Speech Consequences · Violence · Law cited: PPC 506

    ماخذ کے مطابق آن لائن سرگرمی سے منسلک مقدمہ کی اطلاع: «طیب بلوچ نے لکھا کہ علیمہ خان کو امریکا کی جائیدادوں سے متلعق سوال ناگوار گزرا،اسی پر انھوں نے میرے خلاف سوشل میڈیا پر مہم چلوائی، مجھ سمیت فیصل حکیم،غلام رسول قنبر کی تصاویر لگا کر سوشل میڈیا پر پروپیگنڈہ کیا گیا۔»

    View on map · Daily Express ↗

  20. عدالت نے پولیس کو یوٹیوبر رجب بٹ کو گرفتار کرنے سے روک دیا

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C

    سیشن کورٹ لاہور نے پولیس کو یوٹیوبر رجب بٹ کو گرفتار کرنے سے روک دیا سیشن کورٹ لاہور میں یوٹیوبر رجب بٹ کی عبوری ضمانت کی درخواست پر سماعت ہوئی، ایڈیشنل سیشن جج سلیمان گھمن نے عبوری ضمانت پر سماعت کی۔ عدالت نے پولیس کو رجٹ بٹ کو گرفتار کرنے سے 21 جون تک روک دیا، عدالت نے رجب بٹ کو شامل تفتیش ہونے کی ہدایت کردی۔

    View on map · Daily Express ↗

  21. “A Conspiracy to Grab the Land”

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295, 295-C, 298, 298-B, 298-C

    Source reports a death sentence linked to online activity: "[1] Increasingly, those alleging blasphemy have based their accusations on comments made on social media."

    View on map · Human Rights Watch ↗

  22. توہین رسالت کا مقدمہ: جرم ثابت ہونے پر 3 ملزمان کو سزائے موت اور عمر قید کی سزا

    · South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    توہین رسالت کیس میں جرم ثابت ہونے پر عدالت نے 3 ملزمان کو سزائے موت اور عمر قید کی سزا سنادی۔ ملزمان کے خلاف 2023 میں پیکا قوانین، 295 سی کے تحت مقدمہ درج کیا گیا تھا، ملزمان کا تعلق جنوبی وزیرستان، پشاور اور ڈی آئی خان سے ہے۔

    View on map · Daily Express ↗

  24. Jaranwala riots case: Man handed down death, 10-year term with Rs3m fine

    · Faisalabad, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C

    On Aug 16, 2023, riots erupted at Jaranwala over the issue of alleged desecration of the Holy Quran, and a mob torched a number of churches and houses of Christian community members. At the conclusion of trial proceedings, ATC Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh handed down capital punishment to an accused under section 295-C of the PPC, with a fine of Rs2 million.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  26. YouTuber Rajab Butt booked under blasphemy, Peca laws over ‘religious stir’ caused by perfume launch

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295, 295-A

    YouTuber Rajab Butt has been booked under blasphemy and cybercrime laws due to a “religious stir” caused by the launch of his perfume brand that allegedly mocked Pakistan’s blasphemy law, it emerged on Tuesday. In a recent video, since deleted from his social media accounts, Butt launched his “295” perfume which refers to the namesake blasphemy law in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  28. Man sentenced to death for blasphemy by Lahore sessions court

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    A Lahore sessions court sentenced a man to death on Wednesday for committing blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), other Islamic figures and religious rituals. The first information report (FIR) — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — of the case was filed at the Shahdara Town police station on September 29, 2020, by a member of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan party under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class…

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  29. Punjab police file three cases under Peca for deepfake content

    · Lahore, Punjab · Speech Consequences · FIR · Law cited: PPC 500, 505

    A police official said the three cases were registered on the complaints of the local ‘respected citizens and businessmen’ with no arrest of any suspect nominated in the FIRs so far. Similarly, Abdul Raoof alleged in the FIR registered with the Kot Lakphat police that an unknown man uploaded AI-generated fabricated and immoral video clips and photos of Maryam Nawaz on his social media account ‘The Last Hope’.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  30. LHC grants bail to juvenile in one of blasphemy cases

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has granted post-arrest bail to a Christian who was a juvenile at the time of his arrest in a second FIR of blasphemy out of three registered against him at different police stations of Sargodha.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  31. Blasphemy convict on death row acquitted in Rawalpindi

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C, 298-A

    ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court (LHC), Rawalpindi bench, has acquitted a man previously sentenced to death on blasphemy charges, citing insufficient evidence and inconsistencies in witness testimonies.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  32. Peshawar doctor denied bail in blasphemy case

    · Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-B

    PESHAWAR: A local court has rejected bail plea of a doctor arrested on charges of desecration of the Holy Quran in Hayatabad Township last month. The judge observed that the accused-petitioner after his arrest rightly pointed out the place of occurrence where he admitted he had thrown away by desecrating the copies of the Holy Quran.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  33. سوشل میڈیا پر مذہبی تویین آمیز مواد پھیلانے پر 2 ملزمان کو سزائے موت سنادی گئی

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    ڈسٹرکٹ اینڈ سیشن کورٹ آسلام آباد نے سوشل میڈیا پر مذہبی توہین آمیز مواد پھیلانے کے الزامات پر 2 ملزمان کو سزائے موت سنا دی۔ سزائے موت اسلام آباد کے ایڈیشنل سیشن جج محمد افضل مجوکہ نے سنائی، ملزمان کے خلاف سوشل میڈیا پر توہین آمیز مواد پھیلانے پر ایف آئی اے سائبر کرائم ونگ اسلام آباد میں مقدمہ درج تھا۔

    View on map · Daily Express ↗

  34. Islamabad sessions court sentences 2 to death for blasphemy

    · Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    Two men were sentenced to death by an Islamabad district and sessions court on Thursday for “proliferating blasphemous content” online. According to a first information report (FIR) registered by the Federal Investigation Agency in 2021 — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — one of the convicts was arrested in Islamabad for creating and disseminating “blasphemous contents … in respect of the Holy Prophet [Peace Be Upon Him]” to a WhatsApp…

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  35. 4 men sentenced to death in Rawalpindi over ‘online blasphemy’: lawyer

    · Rawalpindi, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PECA 11; PPC 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A

    A court in Rawalpindi sentenced four men to death for posting blasphemous content online, a prosecution lawyer told AFP on Monday. “They were sentenced to death … on Friday for spreading blasphemous content online against the Prophet Muhammad (PUBH) and the Quran,” Rao Abdur Raheem, a lawyer from the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, a private group which brought the case to court, told AFP .

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  36. Prayer leader booked for blasphemy, hate speech in Sahiwal

    · Sahiwal, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    SAHIWAL: A village prayer leader was booked on charges of blasphemy, hate speech and incitement of sectarianism in his Friday sermon at Chak 8/14-L near Kasowal, Chichawatni, and posting it on local social media platforms.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  38. Seminary sealed, 18 booked over ‘blasphemy’

    · Sahiwal, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A, 295-C; ATA 7, 9

    Source reports a criminal case (FIR) linked to online activity: "Police found around 15 to 18 people regularly spreading hate material and blasphemous content in print and at online platforms."

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  40. Blasphemy suspect killed in Mirpurkhas ‘police encounter’

    · Mirpurkhas, Sindh · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C

    MIRPURKHAS/UMERKOT: An Umerkot-based doctor, Shah Nawaz Kunhbar, was shot dead by police in an alleged extra-judicial killing in Mirpurkhas on Thursday, a day after he was booked on allegations of blasphemy. On Wednesday, the medical professional was booked by Umerkot police under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code for allegedly posting ‘blasphemous content’ on Facebook following protests by religious parties.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  42. Doctor booked over blasphemy charge in Umerkot

    · Umerkot, Sindh · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C

    UMERKOT: Police have booked a doctor allegedly for sharing blasphemous posts on social media after certain religious parties staged a violent protest to demand strict action against the suspect. Also reported by The Guardian.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  43. Quetta police station attacked amid protest against ‘blasphemy’

    · Quetta, Balochistan · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-C

    QUETTA: The Kharotabad police station came under a grenade attack during a violent protest on Wednesday as an enraged mob demanded that the police hand over a blasphemy suspect to them. Police arrested the suspect after registering a case against him on blasphemy charges.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  44. Man jailed for life in blasphemy case in Karachi

    · Karachi, Sindh · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-B

    KARACHI: A sessions court on Thursday sentenced a man to life imprisonment after convicting him of desecrating the Holy Quran in 2021 within the remits of the Korangi police station. Additional District and Sessions Judge (East) Shahid Ali Memon found the accused guilty and ruled that the prosecution had proven the charge of defiling copies of the Quran under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) beyond a shadow of a doubt.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  46. Blasphemy case against two women in Kasur

    · Kasur, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-B

    Source reports a criminal case (FIR) linked to online activity: "The video of the incident that occurred on Friday went viral on social media on Saturday."

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  48. Blasphemy accused sentenced to life in prison in Lahore

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-B, 295-C

    LAHORE: A sessions court has awarded life term to a man for committing blasphemy in a trial that remained suspended for about two years owing to his mental illness. On the complaint of an ASI, a case was registered under sections 295-B and 295-C of the PPC.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  49. ‘Fake’ blasphemy case bid for revenge in Okara

    · Okara, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-A

    OKARA: A Christian man was booked for his alleged botched plan to set the Holy Quran on fire to take revenge on his two siblings, thinking the angry Muslims would lynch them. They made a video of the torture and posted it on social media.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

  50. Woman in Lahore gets life term for ‘blasphemy’

    · Lahore, Punjab · Blasphemy Cases · Blasphemy · Law cited: PPC 295-B

    LAHORE: A sessions court on Thursday handed down life imprisonment to a woman on the charge of desecration of the Holy Quran. Hayer police registered the first information report of the incident in 2021 under section 295-B of Pakistan Penal Code against ‘A’, 40, a resident of Bedian Road.

    View on map · Dawn ↗

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