Jailed for fines: CJ seeks list of convicts who can’t pay

CJ suggested government form a fund for the payment of diyat, qisas and fines for prisoners who are poor.

LAHORE: Chief Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed on Friday suggested that the government form a fund for the payment of diyat, qisas and fines for prisoners who are poor. This, he said, would help in coping with overcrowding in jails. He also directed the IGP to submit a report, within a month, about the number of convicts who had served their sentences but had not been released due to non-payment of fines. The CJ observed that the government had hired “hundreds of ministers” at high salaries but did not pay any attention to the public’s problems. Petitioner Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddque submitted that Punjab jails are crowded.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2012.