M A I N   N E W S

Attorney-General’s help sought in Pak
prisoners case
Our Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 19
The Supreme Court today sought the assistance of Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee to know the exact legal position about the detention of 14 prisoners from Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) in the jails in the country after they had served the sentence for the offence of cross-border infiltration.

Issuing notice to the Attorney- General directing him to appear before it to explain whether the alien prisoners could be held in jail even after the completion of the sentence, a Bench comprising Mr Justice M.B. Shah and Mr Justice A.R. Lakshman said the matter should be listed for hearing after two weeks.

The court was hearing the petitions by 11 Pakistani nationals and three from the POK, alleging that they had been detained in the jails of Jammu and Kashmir “illegally” for the past several years.

The 14 prisoners had been held in jail since 1993 for crossing the line of control, Jammu and Kashmir Government counsel Anis Suhrawardy said.

The court, sought the assistance of Sorabjee as it was not satisfied with the replies filed by the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir Government and termed it as “vague” in response to the notices issued by it to them earlier on the issue.

Another Bench, headed by Ms Justice Ruma Pal had earlier sought to know the real position about the 14 Pakistani prisoners, including five convicted under Official Secrets Act and currently lodged in Rajasthan prisons after completing the jail-term for crossing the border illegally.

As per the list submitted by the Jammu and Kashmir Government in the court today the prisoners lodged in the jails of the state include, Basharat Ali Rajput, Umer Dein, Shahid Mehmood, Mohd Ishfaq Rajput, Abdul Khaliq, Zamir Ahmed, Iftikhar Hyder, Sallah-ud-Din, Mohd Akram, Habibullah Shah, Assadellah Qadri and Ishfaq Rajput.