Prisons dept opposes sentence suspension

The Punjab Prisons Department has denied commuting or suspending sentence of a prisoner under provisions to grant premature release to old and terminally-ill inmates due to various reasons.

A report in this regard was submitted by Dr. Qadeer Alam, Assistant Inspector General (AIG-Judicial), before the Lahore High Court where a request of a prisoner who had been suffering from different ailments, including liver disease, in jail was being heard.

The convict had requested the court to order his release from jail following the example of PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif’s case.

The AIG contended that since the promulgation of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance 1990, Section 402C of the CrPC restricts the powers of the provincial and federal governments to commute, remit and suspend, without the consent of the victim or their heirs of the deceased, the sentence of a prisoner who is convicted for offences including hurt and murder.

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In line with the international instruments on the treatment of prisoners and human rights approach to prisons administration, two categories of prisoners, old age and suffering from a terminal illness, must be granted premature release.

Time and again correctional healthcare experts have underlined the need to reach a consensus definition. Gerontology literature reckons 65 years as the threshold to define an old person, whereas the United Nations considers 60 years as the baseline, the report stated.