Inmate care: Lawyer can’t ‘teach’ Sarabjit yoga

Advocate says lack of sunshine, exercise have given client health problems.

LAHORE:

The chief justice (CJ) of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking the medical checkup and treatment of convicted Indian spy Sarabjit Singh, presently on death row, after jail authorities informed the court that he was in good physical condition.

The court also disposed of another petition challenging a possible presidential pardon to the convict and seeking his execution as soon as possible.

Earlier, a report submitted on behalf of the home secretary rejected the arguments of Advocate Awais Sheikh, counsel for Singh, and maintained that the prisoner was in good health and there was no need from him to be physically examined at a hospital outside the jail. The report said the counsel’s request to be allowed yoga with his client in jail was not practicable. However, Sheikh, as Singh’s counsel, had been allowed meetings with his client as per jail rules and regulations.

Sheikh had submitted that jail authorities were not letting him meet with Sarabjit. He said he wanted to convey Singh messages from his wife. An additional advocate general submitted that the counsel could not be allowed frequent meetings with a convict from an enemy nation. Sheikh objected and said a prisoner was a prisoner regardless of his nationality and rules must apply equally to every inmate. The CJ directed the Home Department to arrange for a meeting.

In his petition, Advocate Sheikh had submitted that his client had developed heart disease due to his long captivity. He said his client had been suffering from backaches, high blood pressure, an eating disorder, migraines, insomnia, and high cholesterol due to a lack of sunshine and physical exercise.

The counsel had requested the court to allow him to teach Singh yoga during his meeting to get him out of his depression, lower the stress and improve his physical and mental health. The advocate had also asked the court to take notice of the IG prisons comment in a report where he said, “Frequent meetings with a prisoner of an enemy country are not feasible.”

Regarding the petition against a possible presidential pardon for Singh, the federal government filed a report and stated that no mercy petition on behalf of Singh was pending before the president. The chief justice then disposed of the petition.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2011.