SHC seeks details of elderly jail inmates

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the provincial law officer to file as well as place on record details of elderly prisoners.

The directives came on a petition seeking premature release of old age prisoners who were ill. Petitioner Faiz Ali submitted that the jail authorities were bound to provide details of such prisoners to the trial court.

He maintained that the prisoners were not being provided proper medicines whereas several prisoners were unable to recover due to consumption of expired medicine. He demanded for all such prisoners to be shifted to a hospital for treatment.

The petitioner also sought directives for the jail authorities to submit details of elderly prisoners suffering from various ailments, infirmity and process their cases for premature release under section 146 of prison rules.

Bail granted

The SHC granted interim pre-arrest bail to assistant commissioner Mirpurkhas in a case pertaining to illegal reclamation of 530 acres of coastal land.

Petitioner Abdul Latif submitted that he was issued a call-up notice by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with an inquiry against former secretary land utilisation Shazar Shamoon, former revenue officer Mustafa Jamal Kazi and others.

The petitioner maintained that he had nothing to do with the offence and was willing to cooperate with NAB’s investigation officer.

The court granting him the pre-arrest bail directed him to cooperate with NAB officials. The court also issued notices to NAB’s deputy prosecutor general and others to file their comments for confirmation of bail or otherwise on April 20.