Arshad Pappu: Solitary confinement petition dismissed
Arshad Pappu says he was kept in solitary confinement for a fortnight but was moved to his present cell later.
KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court disposed of a petition against the alleged solitary confinement of notorious gangster Arshad Pappu on Wednesday.
A division bench, comprising justices Gulzar Ahmed and Imam Bux Baloch, passed the ruling based on a report submitted by a Member of the Inspection Team (MIT) and a statement filed by Sindh government’s law officer.
Petitioner Asma Arshad, wife of Arshad Pappu, claimed that her husband, who is an under-trial prisoner, was being kept in solitary confinement along with militants.
She said that this risks the prisoner’s life.
To ascertain the actual position, the bench ordered MIT Farooq Ali Channa to visit the Central Prison, Karachi. Channa said that when he visited the prison cell, he saw Arshad having breakfast with a number of under-trial prisoners and convicts.
Arshad informed Channa that he was kept in solitary confinement for a fortnight but was moved to his present cell later.
He also told the MIT that extremists and militants were kept in the adjacent cell and that makes him feel insecure. Channa observed that the inmates were freely moving around in their cells.
After perusing the report, the bench raised some queries at which the Sindh Additional Advocate General, appearing for the home secretary and prisons inspector general, said that the prisoner will be treated as per the jail manual.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.
The Sindh High Court disposed of a petition against the alleged solitary confinement of notorious gangster Arshad Pappu on Wednesday.
A division bench, comprising justices Gulzar Ahmed and Imam Bux Baloch, passed the ruling based on a report submitted by a Member of the Inspection Team (MIT) and a statement filed by Sindh government’s law officer.
Petitioner Asma Arshad, wife of Arshad Pappu, claimed that her husband, who is an under-trial prisoner, was being kept in solitary confinement along with militants.
She said that this risks the prisoner’s life.
To ascertain the actual position, the bench ordered MIT Farooq Ali Channa to visit the Central Prison, Karachi. Channa said that when he visited the prison cell, he saw Arshad having breakfast with a number of under-trial prisoners and convicts.
Arshad informed Channa that he was kept in solitary confinement for a fortnight but was moved to his present cell later.
He also told the MIT that extremists and militants were kept in the adjacent cell and that makes him feel insecure. Channa observed that the inmates were freely moving around in their cells.
After perusing the report, the bench raised some queries at which the Sindh Additional Advocate General, appearing for the home secretary and prisons inspector general, said that the prisoner will be treated as per the jail manual.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.