Indian prisoner: Interior Ministry given till March 16
Petition seeking the release of an Indian prisoner still in a Pakistani jail despite finishing his term.
LAHORE:
Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik of the Lahore High Court on Monday asked the Interior Ministry to file its reply by March 16 on a petition seeking the release of an Indian prisoner still in a Pakistani jail despite finishing his term, or the court would decide the case without it.
Justice Malik deferred the hearing after the ministry again failed to file a reply on Monday. “Further delay will not be allowed,” he told a law officer representing the ministry. “Is there a law that allows you to keep prisoners in jail even after the awarded sentence is completed?” The judge was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Awais Sheikh seeking Indian prisoner Surjit Singh alias Makhan Singh’s inclusion in a list of foreign prisoners still in Pakistani jails despite term completion. On Thursday, the Kot Lakhpat jail SP submitted that Singh’s jail term had ended a year ago, but he was awaiting directions from the GHQ, Rawalpindi, and the Presidency as to his release.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2012.
Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik of the Lahore High Court on Monday asked the Interior Ministry to file its reply by March 16 on a petition seeking the release of an Indian prisoner still in a Pakistani jail despite finishing his term, or the court would decide the case without it.
Justice Malik deferred the hearing after the ministry again failed to file a reply on Monday. “Further delay will not be allowed,” he told a law officer representing the ministry. “Is there a law that allows you to keep prisoners in jail even after the awarded sentence is completed?” The judge was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Awais Sheikh seeking Indian prisoner Surjit Singh alias Makhan Singh’s inclusion in a list of foreign prisoners still in Pakistani jails despite term completion. On Thursday, the Kot Lakhpat jail SP submitted that Singh’s jail term had ended a year ago, but he was awaiting directions from the GHQ, Rawalpindi, and the Presidency as to his release.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2012.