Mentally ill prisoners

Justice is impartial. It is neutral between persons. There must, however, be between the law and the citizen some institution which is flexible and is moved by mercy, compassion, respect for human life and consideration for circumstances. Those who sign death warrants should also have the alternative to sign pardon. It is in line with this spirit that the top court on Monday ordered fresh medical examination of two mentally ill death-row prisoners and sought the expert opinion of amici curiae on mental illnesses and how these conditions have been described in national and international jurisprudence. Hearing review petitions of two prisoners sentenced to death, a larger bench of the Supreme Court constituted a medical board consisting of mental health experts of repute to evaluate the condition of Kanizan Bibi and Ghulam Abbas and asked the board to submit its report within three weeks before the next hearing on Oct 19. The court had accepted the review petition of another death-row prisoner, Imdad Ali, at an earlier hearing.

The bench asked the amici curiae to inform the court of their opinions in the context of Section 64 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Sections 464 and 465 of the Pakistan Criminal Procedure Code. Under these laws, relief can be provided to convicts. Section 64 of PPC states, “Nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that what he is doing is either wrong or contrary to law.” The two sections of CrPC also deal with offenders’ soundness of mind and things related it. The court has sought the assistance of amici curiae on whether the offenders could tell good from bad, whether mental disorder starts before or after committing crime, and whether a person could follow court proceedings against him or her besides on other such relevant questions.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2020.

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