Penal code suggests no specific span for life imprisonment, observes CJP – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The president of the court, Asif Saeed Khosa, questioned on Wednesday how "prison rules" could determine the imprisonment of those convicted for life, that is, 25 years.

"On what basis has it been written under Rule 140 and 198 (b) of the Pakistan Prison Rules that the life of the convicted person will be 25 years when the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) does not suggest any specific life "the chief justice observed, leading a larger bank of seven judges.

The bank was specially set up to resolve the issue of what the life in prison should be, whether 25 years of imprisonment or sending the culprit behind bars for life. It is up to the legislature to clarify eliminating confusion, the president of the court observed.

The issue attracted the attention of the Supreme Court before when the president of the Supreme Court, when heading a different bank, addressed a case related to the granting of life imprisonment in the case of a man, Haroon Rashid, who was sentenced to life imprisonment 12 times. in two different cases, but the question before the court was to determine whether the punishment should be executed consecutively or concurrently.

Rasheed has been in jail since 1997 and has served a 22-year sentence. According to Rashid's lawyer, Zulfikar Maluka, the court had allowed different sentences to be served simultaneously. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court postponed new procedures when the lawyer expressed the desire to withdraw the petition, as he still has an opportunity to file a petition for review in one of the two cases, although the petition for review in other positions concluded.

The court asked the lawyer to submit a request to tolerate the delay until finally submitting the petition for review, and added that the court is not willing to harm the jurisprudence developed by the courts; otherwise, the dispute would have no end.

"How can we calculate the duration of the life sentence of a convict when nobody knows how long he will survive," said the president of the court, adding that the Indian courts had developed a concept by declaring it as "judicial innovation" and saying that later After 14 years of imprisonment, the convict will qualify for remission in his sentence. But in Pakistan's jurisprudence, it's 15 years, said the president of the Supreme Court, adding that it was the right of the executive to grant referrals, but it is up to the courts to pass sentence.

Lead lawyer Ahsan Bhoon and Azam Nazeer Tarar also testified before the higher court that they had been approached by different bar associations and, therefore, wanted to represent the point of view of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) before the SC to determine the problem.

The PBC was not under notice, but wanted to join current procedures as people "cry in prisons since the quality of food served in prisons is very low and there are no medications available," said Tarar.

Meanwhile, Additional Advocate General, Punjab, Qasim Nawaz Chowhan filed a brief with the trial court explaining that the terms & # 39; life imprisonment & # 39; or & # 39; life imprisonment & # 39; they have never been defined in any law of Pakistan through the words & # 39; life & # 39; and & # 39; Incarceration & # 39; have been explained separately.

Section 45 of the CFP defines "life" as the "life of the human being" and, therefore, should be read in the context of Section 45 of the CFP, which normally means imprisonment for the entire or complete period of the lifetime.

Even so, there is a misconception in public and in certain corners of the academy that the "life imprisonment" is 15 or 25 years. This misconception has been developed due to the incorrect reading of Section 57 of the CFP which, if read in isolation, will say that life imprisonment will be considered equivalent to 25 years, says the brief.

He explains that Section 57 of the CFP has no real relationship with the meaning of "life imprisonment." The government can grant clemency to the convict by freeing him after 15 years, or after a period defined as 25 years. The government has no obligation to exercise such powers since unconditional criminals never receive such benefits.

This proposal makes it clear that life imprisonment is being imprisoned for the rest of life, therefore, life imprisonment is not limited to 15 years, the report says.

Posted on Dawn, October 3, 2019