IHC orders to release prisoners involved in minor crimes

ISLAMABAD: In the wake of the rising threat of the coronavirus, Islamabad High Court on Friday ordered the release of prisoners with minor crimes.

According to details, during the hearing of a case pertaining to the release of the prisoners from Adiala Jail Chief Justice IHC said “The jails of the country are already overfilled. God forbid, what will happen if coronavirus spreads among the prisoners?”

Justice Athar Minallah said there are numerous cases when the suspects are gratuitously apprehended, added “The court finds various examples where the suspects should not send to the jail in the first stage.”

He said “The jails are already filled to its capacity. Imagine what will happen if the diseases spread across them?,” Minullah remarked.

Minallah also said that even the new convicts should also be screened before being sent to the prisons lest they are hauling the infection.

Chief Justice asked, “What is the strategy about the prisoners and what has the National Command Committee decided regarding this?”

Replying to the question deputy commissioner Islamabad said that during the meeting between the high-ups, it has been learned that so far no prisoner tested positive for the coronavirus.

The deputy commissioner further told to the judge that the visitors had been banned from meeting with the prisoners.

On this development, the Vice-Chairman Islamabad Bar Council said that each prisoner should be screened before being released.

The top judges of the court said that those prisoners whose terms are almost complete should also be set free. They also ordered, “If there is a prisoner who tested positive should also be released.”