LHC to hear petition seeking relief for poor prisoners

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) accepted for hearing a petition seeking relief for the poor prisoners who could not pay the fine imposed on them and languishing in jails despite completing their jail terms.

According to the details, Advocate Nadeem Sarwar on Monday had submitted a pleas before the LHC and stated that a large number of inmates were unable to pay fines and languishing in different jails of the province.

He stated in his plea that it was the state’s responsibility to pay fines and ‘Diyat’ in such cases and pleaded with the court to order the government to pay the fines on the behalf of the poor prisoners.

Replying to a question about his opinion about the petition, the law officer said that he was unable to read a copy of the petition and sought time to respond.

The court issued notices seeking responses from the Punjab home secretary and the Inspector General for Prisons. The petition would be fixed for hearing soon.

Earlier, the Sindh government on February 6, had decided to introduce long-awaited jail reforms’ by enacting new legislation on the matter.

A committee had already been formed by the provincial government to bring reforms to the current prisons system.

The Sindh government on Jan 23 had introduced major reforms in the ‘punitive’ prisons system in Sindh and repeal the years old colonial law.