Hopes for justice for victims of 2023 attacks on Christians in Jaranwala town, Pakistan ostensibly ended when a high court on Oct. 22 rejected all petitions filed by individuals and Christian groups seeking a judicial investigation, sources said.

After a delay of two years, Lahore High Court Justice Asim Hafeez in his verdict stated that the high court did not have the jurisdiction to order the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the religiously-motivated attacks on multiple churches and homes of Christians in Jaranwala, Faisalabad Division, Punjab Province, on Aug. 16, 2023 that erupted after two Christians were falsely accused of desecrating the Quran and writing blasphemous content against Islam’s prophet.

“Besides jurisdictional constraints, formation of judicial commission at this stage, in wake of the submission of reports by the Joint Investigation Teams (JIT), by issuing direction to constitute judicial commission, would imply suggesting redundancy to the efforts by the JITs and otherwise tantamount to disbelieve, discredit and invalidate the contents of the reports by the JITs,” the verdict stated.

According to the judgment, government attorneys told the high court that Section 3 of the Punjab Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance of 1969 provides for various options not limited to the formation of judicial commission but include appointment of tribunals, commissions and committees of inquiry. They claimed that the Joint Investigation Teams had completed their tasks and submitted their reports, which may be used in the criminal proceedings against the accused.

The caretaker Punjab Province government had constituted 10 Joint Investigation Teams on Aug. 24, 2023, to investigate the causes behind the attacks and to identify gaps in the government response and recommend measures to address them, according to media reports. To date, however, reports of the JITs have not been made public.

The verdict also stated that in its report to the high court on Oct. 20, the government submitted that in a meeting on Jan. 10, 2024, the caretaker provincial cabinet discussed the report of a committee formed by the chief minister and unanimously concluded that “it covers all possible details and comprehensively encompasses all cogent factors of the unfortunate incident.”

Expressing satisfaction over progress in the prosecution of the cases, the caretaker cabinet decided that the formation of a judicial commission would undermine the efforts already made by the government and affect the trial proceedings, the report said.

Almost all suspects arrested in connection with the attacks have either walked free on bail or been discharged and acquitted due to weak police investigation and prosecution. The government has also not made the analysis report of the chief minister’s committee public that it claims ascertained the causes of the incident and made recommendations to prevent such incidents in the future.

In the verdict, the judge also noted that the attorneys of the petitioners had failed to explain how the constitution of the JITs was illegal and how the scope and mandate of Section 3 of the Ordinance 1969 was violated.

“When asked, nothing is disclosed whether private complaints were instituted by the petitioners or any action was taken against allegation of complicity against police by invoking appropriate jurisdiction, including but not limited to petitions under Sections 22-A and 22-B of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1898,” the verdict stated. “There is no explanation that why remedies, variously available, were not opted.”

A senior Christian lawyer speaking on condition of anonymity said he believed the petitioners’ counsels had failed to effectively interpret in court the fundamental rights of religious minorities guaranteed and protected by the Constitution of Pakistan and endorsed by judgments of the superior courts.

“Infringement of fundamental rights such as ransacking and destruction of places of worship and holy scriptures necessitated the formation of a judicial inquiry under the 1969 Ordinance to ascertain the causes of the incident and to make recommendations to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future,” the attorney told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “A Christian had in September 2023 filed an application in the office of the Chief Secretary, Punjab, seeking the formation of a judicial commission, but it was not entertained as it failed to properly highlight the violations of fundamental rights of religious minorities in the Jaranwala incident. The application was later withdrawn by the individual, whereas its rejection should have been challenged in the high court by framing a proper argument.”

Moreover, when the government told the high court that there was no need for a judicial inquiry in the presence of JITs, the petitioners’ counsels should have argued that their case was for a judicial inquiry into the causes of the incident, not investigations of the cases registered under the anti-terrorism laws, he said.

The senior counsel, considered an authority on constitutional and criminal law, also criticized lack of interest by the petitioners in pursuing their aims.

“The petitions were pending in the high court for two years, but no serious effort was made by any party to seek regular hearings or build the much-needed pressure on the government to force it to reconsider its decision,” he said.

Christian Daily International-Morning Star News has credible information that some Christian groups received hundreds of thousands of dollars from their foreign donors to pursue Jaranwala legal cases in the trial court as well as Lahore High Court but did not use the money for their intended purpose. Most of the Christian lawyers engaged by these groups took up the cases on voluntary basis, resulting in many of them losing interest in the cases after some months.

Of 5,213 suspects involved in the attacks, 380 were arrested while 4,833 remained at large, according to Amnesty International.

“Of the arrested suspects, 228 were released on bail and 77 others had the charges against them dropped,” Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for South Asia, said in a press statement on the first anniversary of the incident. “Despite the authorities’ assurances of accountability, the grossly inadequate action has allowed a climate of impunity for the perpetrators of the Jaranwala violence.”

Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan, and those found guilty of insulting Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, can be sentenced to death. While authorities have yet to carry out death sentences for blasphemy, often the accusation alone can spark riots and incite mobs to violence.

The two Christian brothers in Jaranwala were acquitted of the blasphemy charges after an anti-terrorism court found that they had been framed by another Christian following a personal dispute.

Pakistan ranked eighth on Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.