Forensic report confirms alleged Ice recovered from Matiullah Jan was not drugs

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday received a forensic report stating that a substance allegedly recovered from senior journalist Matiullah Jan was not drugs.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Inam Amin Minhas was hearing the matter to determine whether charges under narcotics laws could be formally framed. After reviewing the report, the court referred the case back to the trial court for further proceedings.

Jan said in a post on X that the Punjab Forensic Laboratory report presented before the court confirmed the material allegedly recovered from him was “not drugs or ice.” He added that the high court remanded the application, along with the laboratory report, to the trial court and directed the government to submit a supplementary challan.

“Finally, thanks to those government and non-government politicians who immediately declared this fake case as false and fabricated after it was registered,” he wrote.

A day earlier, a special anti-terrorism court in Islamabad dismissed another application filed by Jan and decided to proceed with framing terrorism charges against him. Judge Supra, who is overseeing both the narcotics and terrorism cases, said the court had considered submissions from both the prosecution and defence and would formally frame charges.

Jan had challenged the framing of charges in the narcotics case, arguing there was no video evidence of drug recovery. The IHC had earlier granted the prosecution additional time to submit forensic reports, but police had failed to do so during the previous two hearings.

Following Wednesday’s hearing, Jan described the case on X as “fake” and an “open attack on journalists and press freedom.” He said he was abducted from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad on November 27 while reporting on casualties at a PTI protest, after which a false FIR was lodged against him.

After hearing arguments, Judge Supra reserved his verdict on Jan’s application challenging the court’s jurisdiction and adjourned further proceedings until February 19.

Background

The Federal Capital Police registered a case against Jan, alleging his involvement in terrorism and narcotics possession following an incident at a checkpost in Islamabad.

According to the FIR filed by Superintendent of Police Asif Ali at Margalla Police Station, Jan was stopped at the E-9 checkpost while driving a white Toyota Yaris towards F-10. The FIR claims the vehicle rammed police personnel, injuring Constable Mudassir. When the vehicle stopped due to a barrier, Jan allegedly exited the car, assaulted the constable, and briefly seized his SMG rifle, which was later recovered by police.

The FIR further alleges that Jan appeared under the influence of a narcotic, and a subsequent search of his car uncovered 246 grams of methamphetamine beneath the driver’s seat. A 1-gram sample was collected for chemical testing, and the car was impounded.

The case invokes Section 9(2)4 of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, covering possession of psychotropic substances between 100 grams and 500 grams. It also cites Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 along with Sections 186, 279, 353, 382, 411, 427 and 506(ii) of the Pakistan Penal Code relating to assault, obstruction of public servants, theft, mischief, and threats of harm.

The FIR was registered at 3:20am on Thursday nearly an hour after the alleged incident. Jan’s family has previously claimed that he was abducted from the parking lot of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences the night before, raising concerns over the circumstances leading to the filing of the FIR.