PHC CJ orders action against officials over man unlawfully kept jailed for 12 years

Directs Home Department, Kurram DPO, superintendent of police (investigation) to submit detailed reports

PESHAWAR:

Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice SM Atiq Shah on Monday expressed strong displeasure over the continued detention of a man in Karachi jail for 12 years even after he had completed his sentence, directing that action be taken against all those responsible.

He remarked that no one responsible for wasting 12 years of a citizen’s life through negligence deserves any leniency, and those involved must be identified and held accountable.

A single-member bench headed by Justice SM Atiq Shah heard a petition seeking the transfer of prisoner Amin Hussain from Karachi to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The petitioner’s counsel, Additional Advocate General (AG) Nomanul Haq Kakakhel, Home Department officers, and police officials were present in court.

The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that Hussain, a resident of K-P, had completed his sentence long ago but remained imprisoned in Karachi Central Jail for 12 years. He was not released because the Kurram police claimed he was wanted in a murder case, even though the trial in that case had not yet begun.

Kakakhel informed the court that Hussain was moved from Karachi to Kurram Jail. He was arrested in Karachi in 2014 in a narcotics case and sentenced in 2016 to one year and three months in prison.

The additional AG further stated that the Kurram administration had written to the Karachi Home Department through the K-P Home Department, declaring the prisoner wanted. However, after administrative changes in 2018, when the political administration was converted into a district administration, progress stalled. On July 26, 2019, the deputy commissioner wrote to the Kurram district police officer (DPO) for the prisoner’s transfer from Karachi, but no further action was taken.

The petitioner’s counsel emphasised that despite completing his sentence, Hussain had been languishing in jail for 12 years.

The chief justice observed that 12 years of the petitioner’s life had been wasted in Karachi jail. He ordered that anyone found involved in the delay must face action.

The bench directed the Home Department, DPO and superintendent of police (investigation) to submit detailed reports on the matter. The hearing was adjourned till June 8.