Send back Indian nationals if jail term is complete: Pak court to govt

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reprimanded the Pakistan government for incarcerating some Indian nationals who have served their sentences in terrorism and espionage cases and ordered to send them back, according to a media report.

In a hearing over petitions submitted by eight Indian citizens for their release, a representative of the Ministry of Interior submitted a report on the matter to IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Geo news reported.

Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, one of the deputy attorney-generals of Pakistan, informed the court on behalf of the federal government that Pakistan had on October 26, 2020, released five convicted Indian prisoners on the completion of their sentences and sent them back to their homeland, the report said.

A legal representative of the Indian High Commission told the court that one of the Indian nationals, who did not want to return despite having completed his sentence, had been deported.

Three more citizens were incarcerated despite having served their sentences, the counsel added.

Shah said he would respond to the matter after obtaining instructions to the extent of the three Indian prisoners, the report said.

The case of some prisoners is with the review board, Shah said, to which Justice Minallah angrily remarked: “How can you keep them any longer when their sentence is completed?

“Where did the review board come from,” he asked. “If the sentence is complete, send them back.”    

The IHC disposed of a combined petition seeking the release of four Indian citizens. One of the individual petitions was related to the man who was deported.

The court set the next hearing for November 5.