Publish full list of Pak prisoners: SC

Publish full list of Pak prisoners: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday demanded the Centre produce a comprehensive list of Pakistani prisoners lodged in Indian prisons after it was informed that two Pakistani prisoners were still behind bars for the past 40 years. The Court came to the rescue of the foreign prisoners languishing in Indian jails as it felt that matters of life and liberty preserved by Constitution Article 21 are available to all, irrespective of the bar of citizenship.

The Bench of Justices RM Lodha and HL Gokhale expressed ‘shock’ on learning that the two Pakistani prisoners remained in detention since 1965 and 1967. This fact was brought to the attention of the Court by J&K Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh, who filed a PIL in this regard.

Singh further informed that out of a total of 300 Pakistani prisoners still languishing in jail, four were women inmates. The Bench said, “We are here to uphold Article 21, right to life, the most precious right to given to a person whether he is an Indian or a foreigner.”

Singh’s petition has been engaging consideration of the apex court since 2005 with several persons being repatriated or deported to their country of origin, the fresh list produced by Singh was an eye-opener. Most of these prisoners were fishermen, undertrials or those who have overstayed their sentence.

The Bench even found fault with the Centre for failing to provide complete data on foreign prisoners. It said, “You (Centre) give piecemeal information resulting in court passing piecemeal orders. There must be full disclosure.”