Some 138 inmates continue to serve time. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Up to 138 prisoners are still in jail, despite completion of their conviction period because they cannot pay the blood money or the fine, official documents available with The Express Tribune have revealed.
According to data obtained from the Punjab Prisons Department, 68 prisoners despite completion of their conviction, are still serving time in prison because they cannot afford to pay an amount of Rs36.899 million as diyat, arsh, daman and compensation, etc.
These prisoners are waiting for some philanthropist or government to come forward and pay their fines so that they can regain their freedom and go home.
Punjab’s Inspector General of Prisons Mian Farooq Nazeer, while talking to The Express Tribune, said if these prisoners were freed it would benefit not only them but also the families of the deceased, as the money of diyat would go to the families of deceased in compensation.
According to official documents, some prisoners are still confined in jails despite their prison terms having completed in 2010.
On the other hand, seventy convicted prisoners are still confined in Punjab jails despite completion of their conviction term only because of nonpayment of the fine, imposed by the respective court(s), official figures show.
The amount of the fine of these 70 convicted prisoners, who have completed their term, is Rs14.470 million.
The IG Prisons said over 7,500 convicted prisoners had been released since 2001 only through the help of philanthropists, who deposited around Rs170 million in the prisons’ account.
“Punjab government’s grant in aid amounts to Rs100 million,” the IG Prisons said, adding that most philanthropists deposited their donations in the holy month of Ramazan.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2013.
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