PHC orders transfer of prisoner held in Karachi 12 years beyond jail term

By Alishba Khattak

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Saturday ordered the transfer of a prisoner from a jail in Karachi to Peshawar, ruling that he has remained in custody for more than a decade despite completing his sentence in a narcotics case.

PHC Chief Justice SM Attique Shah directed the authorities concerned to shift the inmate to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within seven days by air, according to an official order issued after a hearing on the case.

The court said that the petitioner had been held in Karachi for 12 years even though he had completed his sentence in a drug-related case in 2014.

It ordered the provincial home secretary to take immediate steps to ensure the transfer.

Officials including the provincial home secretary, the deputy commissioner of Kurram district and the district police officer appeared before the court during the proceedings.

The court also directed the deputy commissioner and district police officer to submit detailed reports within two weeks, while appointing Additional Advocate General Naumanul Haq Kakakhel as focal person to oversee implementation of the order and update the court on progress.

The hearing was adjourned until May 11.

Speaking to HUM News English, Kakakhel said that the petitioner was arrested in Karachi in 2012 in a narcotics case and remained under trial for two years before being sentenced to one year in prison in 2014.

He said that in the same year, a letter issued through the Kurram home department asked Karachi jail authorities not to release the prisoner upon completion of his sentence, citing his nomination in a murder case under Section 302.

“As a result of that letter, the petitioner remained imprisoned in Karachi for the past 12 years,” Kakakhel said.

He said that the prisoner had written directly from jail to PHC chief justice, prompting the court to take notice and issue orders for his transfer.

Following his return to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government will provide the petitioner with a state-appointed lawyer to pursue the murder case, Kakakhel said.