By IANS
New Delhi : The central government Monday told the Supreme Court that 10 Pakistanis, lodged in various Indian jails, were awaiting deportation after having completed their sentences.
Refuting allegations that a total of 52 residents of Pakistan were languishing in various Indian jails without trial, Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh told the bench of Justices B.N. Agarwal and P.P. Naolekar that out of the 52, two were deported to Pakistan on June 30.
Vikas Singh filed a detailed chart explaining the status of the ongoing trial of the Pakistani prisoners in response to a Public Interest Lawsuit filed by Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh.
As per the status report, two were deported back after they had served their respective sentences in Kotbalwar and Kathua jails in the Kashmir Valley.
The law officer told the court that 10 others have been recommended by state governments to be deported to Pakistan and the central government was taking necessary steps.
Of the 10, three are in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan, two in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, one each in Naini, Agra and Varanasi jails in Uttar Pradesh, one in Hajaribagh jail in Jharkhand and one in Sangroor jail in Punjab.
The government report identified the detenues cleared for deportation included Mohammed Asraf Choudhary alias Cobra and Sofi Jamal of Muzzafarabad and Shabir Ahmed – lodged in Jodhpur Jail.
The Naini jail inmate was identified as Sajjad Sajid Khan of Rawalkot in Poonch, Agra jail inmate as Quasim Mehmood of Rahmiyar Khan of Punjab in Pakistan, Hazaribagh jail inmate as Sajad Ali Jat of Lahore and Sangroor jail inmate as Javed Akhtar Abbasi of Rawalpindi.
The status report identified Tihar Jail inmates as Mohammed Abdullah of Lahore and Tariq Abdullah of Karachi, while Varanasi jail inmate was identified as Shahid Latief of Muzzaffarabad in Pakistani Kashmir.
The government told the apex court that 37 Pakistanis are presently undergoing trial in various courts across the country, while three others are undergoing sentences after the conclusion of their trial.
After the government submitted its chart, the bench asked Bhim Singh to examine the report and find out if it had any lacunae as per his information.
The apex court adjourned the matter to Sep 28 saying that in case Bhim Singh was able to come up with any case of detenue lodged in jail for a period beyond the possible sentence for his crime, it would pass orders granting relief to such prisoners.