Centre told to free 51 ‘Pak’ prisoners

“This is a very serious matter. Despite the orders of this court… the prisoners are still languishing in the jails,not for months but for years together,” the court said.

This,the court added,indicated a lapse on the government’s part as normally “whenever a prison sentence is over and the identity of the prisoner is satisfactorily known,the prisoner is released at the most within 15 days”. But here the matter has gone on for years,” the Bench said.

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions on the conditions of foreigners who are compelled to stay behind bars with no hope for deportation even after serving sentences.

One of these cases is that of Abdul Qadar Khwaja,allegedly an Afghan. Khwaja has already served his time,but is still in jail because Pakistan has refused him entry,saying he may be an Afghan. The court directed the government to verify Khwaja’s identity with the Afghan Embassy.

The SC had on March 8,2010 directed the government to “deport forthwith” prisoners who had been identified. On July 12,2010,when the matter came up,it expressed dissatisfaction with the “cavalier” and “off-hand” approach of the government to address the prisoners’ fate.

A letter by Pakistani authorities submitted in the SC states that “out of 752 Pakistani civilian prisoners,national status of 205 has been confirmed… and they are awaiting repatriation. 257 are awaiting consular access despite repeated requests by Pakistan… and 51 prisoners are awaiting special consular access”.