Skip to main content

SHC seeks details of prisoners languishing in jails for non-payment of penalties

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the provincial home secretary to file complete details about the convicts and prisoners confined in various jails of the province for non-payment of compensation.

The two-judge SHC bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh also put the federal law secretary, the State Bank of Pakistan, the provincial home secretary and other respondents as well as the federal and provincial law officers on notice on a petition seeking financial support to the convicts belonging to low-income groups.

Take a look: Central prisons of Karachi, Hyderabad alarmingly overcrowded, PA told

Advocate Shahab Usto petitioned the SHC and submitted that the underprivileged convicts were languishing in different prisons of Sindh just for non-payment of arsh, diyat and daman as they had completed the respective sentences.

The petitioner further argued that the federal law secretary, provincial home secretary, the SBP and other respondents were bond under the Diyat, Arsh and Daman Funds Rules 2007 to provide financial assistance or soft loans to such prisoners.

Read more: Prison reform

He maintained that the federal government had placed the said fund under the administrative control of the ministry of law, justice and human rights while the administrative committee delegated all powers to the provincial sub-committees, to be headed by the provincial home secretaries.

The petitioner contended that it was the responsibility of the provincial sub-committees to scrutinise, process and recommend the eligible cases to the administrative committee for its consideration and approval for grant of amount.

The petitioner added that the SBP was duty-bound to issue instructions to scheduled banks to advance soft loans at a rate of interest not exceeding one per cent inclusive of all costs or interest-free loans to the convicts in this connection.

Moreover, after the amendment to the rules in 2011, he argued, the SBP may also advise the Islamic banks to pay from their charity funds to the destitute prisoners and convicts.

However, the petitioner argued that although a mechanism was available under the law, respondents had virtually done nothing to come to the rescue of the needy convicts languishing in jail only for want of compensation amount.

He further submitted that under Article 9 of the Constitution no person shall be deprived of life or liberty save in accordance with law while Article 14 provided that the dignity of man, subject to law, will be inviolable and as per Article 25 all citizens are equal and entitled to the protection of law.

He contended that the worst criminal was also entitled to his dignity as a man and the crime committed by him did not shed his fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Constitution.

The bench issued notices to the respondents as well as the attorney general and the advocate general for March 7 and also called complete details of the convicts and prisoners still confined in jails for non-payment of diyat, arsh and daman from provincial home secretary till the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2019



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2ToB1tW
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more