With jails overcrowded, Sindh to let out inmates

Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah orders categorisation of prisoners to identify those who can be released

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah ordered on Thursday the Home Department to prepare lists of prisoners housed in Sindh’s jails, categorising them on the basis of severity of their charges, health condition, financial viability and other factors, so that some of them can be released. Meanwhile, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Shaikh ordered the release of 829 under-trial prisoners facing minor sentences from jail.

Separately, the CM also ordered the release of Rs580 million for distributing ration among daily-wage workers.

Shah issued the directives in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown, imposed to slow down its spread.

Presiding over a meeting on Thursday, he acknowledged that prisons in Sindh were “crowded” and therefore, keeping in view the present situation, prisoners who could be released needed to be identified and let out of jails, in accordance with the law.

He said that as per the list of prisoners he had, there were 16,000 inmates in the province’s jails.

“I [now] want you to prepare a separate list of prisoners, dividing them into categories,” he directed the home department officials, adding that the categories should also distinguish under-trial criminals from those convicted.

The category for under-trial prisoners is then to be further divided into lists of those accused of serious charges and minor offences, the CM instructed. He also directed the officials to categorise sick and elderly prisoners.

Separately, devise a list of prisoners who had not been released even after the completion of their jail terms, lacking the means to pay the fine imposed on them, in addition to the list of prisoners who were granted bail but were still imprisoned as they were unable to pay the surety, the CM further ordered.

“The provincial government will [then] pay the fines and arrange finance for the payment of sureties,” he said.

Moreover, the CM sought separate lists of female prisoners, minor prisoners and foreigners kept in jails, saying that they too could be given some relief from penalties meted out to them, depending on the severity of charges levelled against them or offences for which they were convicted.

Funds for rations

Separately, the CM ordered the release of Rs580 million for distributing rations among daily-wage workers and the needy across Sindh.

As per the CM’s directives, Rs20 million is to be allocated for every district for the purpose.

He also said that financial assistance was to be extended to the daily-wagers and the needy, enabling them to meet their other daily needs.

A four-member committee, headed by Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh, is assigned the task to devise a mechanism for the distribution of ration funds among the needy.

Meanwhile, various welfare organisations have also joined hands with the Sindh government to provide ration to people in different areas of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2020.