Apex court orders re-arrest of over 500 inmates

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered over 500 prisoners — temporarily released to slow the spread of coronavirus — to be re-arrested, as it overturned the Islamabad and Sindh high courts’ recent judgments.

The apex court passed the order while hearing a petition challenging the IHC’s verdict regarding the release of prisoners currently under trial.

A 10-page judgment, authored by Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, said: “In the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, we consider it expedient to convert this petition into one under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, and in exercise of powers vested in the Court under Article 187 thereof, set aside the impugned directions issued by the Islamabad High Court as well as High Court of Sindh; bails granted to the accused/convicts, there under, are re-called,” read the apex court order.

“The 519 under-trial prisoners released by the Sindh High Court should be re-arrested,” the apex court announced. The SC also cancelled bails granted to those incarcerated for serious crimes.

A five-judge larger bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Amin Ahmed, however, accepted Attorney-General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan’s recommendations regarding the release of prisoners who have a history of less serious crimes.

The AGP proposed to the apex court that prisoners accused of minor crimes be released in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The AGP said the apex court had been asked to exercise its power under Articles 184 (3) and 187 of the Constitution, in matters related to prisoners all across the country.

The proposal said accused people charged for offences under “non-prohibitory clauses or under vagrancy law or offences carrying less than three years sentence” should be considered for bail. He added that it should not be considered in cases involving abuse or violent acts against children and women, but people suffering from ailments or disability should be considered.

AGP Khan said bail should also be considered in the case of under-trial prisoners who are 55-years-old or above, provided there is no history of past convictions, adding that it should also be extended to all women and juvenile inmates. He further proposed that bail in these cases may be extended on personal bonds. “Some categories of convicted persons may be considered for release by the provincial governments under Section 401 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” he added.

He further said convicts who have completed their sentences but are in jail due to non-payment of fines or monetary penalties and women or juvenile convicts who have served 75 per cent of their sentences and have no history of past convictions could also be released. In addition, convicts whose remaining term in jail is six months or less — provided that the offence was not abuse against women or children — and women or juveniles who were sentenced to a term of one year or less, should also be released on bail.