Indian SC takes up Pak prisoners’ issue

The plight of Pakistani prisoners languishing in Indian jails has attracted the attention of Indian Supreme Court which has taken notice of this atrocious conduct of New Delhi on a petition filed by Prof Bhim Singh, senior advocate of the top court. 

Advocate Singh had moved a division bench of the Supreme Court of India against the illegal, improper and unconstitutional detention of nearly 254 Pakistani and AJK prisoners in Indian jails for over a decade. 

Taking notice of this serious issue, the Indian Supreme Court has asked the central government to provide detailed information about 254 Pakistani prisoners imprisoned in Indian jails either as under-trial prisoners or as convicts. 

The Supreme Court has also asked the details of Pakistani prisoners who illegally crossed the border in addition to seeking details about the crime record of the prisoners. 

It has also been learnt that the apex court of India has directed the authorities to provide information about actual number of prisoners under trial, total number of prisoners who are not under judicial custody and about the number of Pakistani prisoners who have already completed their punishment. 

In the same order, the Indian Supreme Court has also raised questions about the identification process of prisoners as well as the management process pertaining to these prisoners’ repatriation to Pakistan. 

According to the latest data available, over 50 Pakistani prisoners have already completed their sentence in Indian jails but they are still stuck up in India due to lack of confirmation of the nationality status.