Jail building delay taken to court

The capital's high court has sought replies from various respondents on an inordinate delay in establishment of a model jail in Islamabad.

The federal government, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Law, the Ministry of Finance and the inspectors general (IGs) of Islamabad, Punjab and jail will submit their replies to the court by November 7.

Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq on Monday resumed hearing the petition against this delay in construction of Islamabad jail filed by the Judicial Activism Panel through Advocate Azhar Siddique.

During the hearing, Justice Farooq addressed the petitioner's lawyer, noting that the project was initiated 14 years ago during the tenure of former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry but is still incomplete.

"Nothing happened in 10 years, so what hope do we have now? It takes a lot of time to travel to and from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, and a courtroom is essential for jail trials. We have now started efforts to present prisoners via video link," he said.

Siddique added that a modern jail and a courtroom within it are necessary to avoid security issues. The court later issued notices to the concerned parties and adjourned the hearing until November 7.