ISLAMABAD, Sep 19 (APP): The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the authorities concerned to immediate implement laws pertaining to the release of prisoners on probation.
The Supreme Court, in a five-page written decision authored by Justice Athar Minallah, also ordered the federal and provincial governments to ensure the release of prisoners eligible for release on probation.
It observed that serious violations of human rights were taking place in prisons across the country.
The provision of constitutional rights to the prisoners in jail had become impossible due to overcrowding in prisons, it added, observing that the majority of the people who suffered from lack of facilities in prisons were poor, while the state was also not playing a role in providing cheap and quick justice to them.
It further said that the criminal system allowed the exploitation of the weaker sections of society by the powerful.
The court said that such a condition of prisons was intolerable in a constitutional society. It was the responsibility of the state to protect the fundamental rights of every prisoner. The prisoners were entitled to enjoy all constitutional rights except freedom of movement, it added.
A division bench of the apex court led by former Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial had heard the matter.
