The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday converted the death sentence of two mentally ill prisoners into life imprisonment.
The court converted the death sentence of Imdad Ali and Kaneezan Bibi into life imprisonment and ordered the Punjab government to shift them to Punjab Institute of Medical Health for treatment and rehabilitation as per prison rules in view of their mental health condition. The court further directed that a medical board should afresh examine them on completion of their imprisonment and they should be discharged from hospital if the medical board declares them fit.
However, the court directed the jail superintendent to move a fresh mercy petition on behalf of the condemned prisoner Ghulam Abbas to the president while mentioning his mental illness. “We expect that the mercy petition filed on behalf of the prisoner shall be disposed of after taking into consideration all the circumstances including the observations made by this court in the judgment,” it added.
The court also ordered for shifting Ghulam Abbas to Punjab Institute of Mental Health till the disposal of his mercy appeal. The five-member bench headed by Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik announced the verdict on review petitions filed by the Punjab government, Imdad Ali, Kaneezan Bibi and Ghulam Abbas, seeking review of the October 19, 2015 judgement of the Supreme Court that held the trial court and the high court had rightly convicted and sentenced the appellants and that the apex court did not find any reason or mitigating circumstances to reduce the severity of their sentences. The court had reserved the verdict on review petitions on January 7 and it was announced today at Supreme Court Lahore Registry.
In its 51-page detailed verdict, the bench observed that mental health was also very important like physical health but unfortunately it was not given the due importance which it deserved. The bench directed the federal and provincial governments to immediately make necessary amendments in the relevant laws and rules in light of observations given in the judgment. “The prison rules shall be appropriately amended so as to bring the jail manuals of all provinces in harmony,” it added.
The bench also directed the federal and provincial governments to immediately set up high security forensic mental health facilities in the teaching and training institutions of mental health for the assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of under trial prisoners and convicts who had developed mental ailments during their incarceration.
“The federal and provincial governments shall immediately constitute and notify a board comprising three qualified and experienced psychiatrists and two psychologists from the public sector hospitals for the examination and evaluation of prisoners who are on death row and are suffering from the illness, to ensure that those who no longer have the higher mental functions to appreciate the rationale and reasons behind the awarded death sentence are not executed,” it added.
The court also directed federal and provincial governments to immediately constitute and notify a board consisting of two qualified and experienced psychiatrists and one psychologist from the public sector hospitals in Islamabad and at each divisional headquarter of the provinces for examination, assessment and rehabilitation of the prisoners.
The said medical board shall also be authorized to examine the accused persons referred by the trial courts for examination under the provisions of sections 464 and 465 CrPC, it added.
“The federal and provincial governments shall immediately launch training programmes and short certificate courses on forensic mental health assessment for psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers, police. and prison personnel.”
The bench further directed the Federal Judicial Academy, Islamabad and all provincial judicial academies to arrange courses for trial court judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and court staff on mental illness, including the forensic mental health assessment.
It is pertinent to mention here that Imdad Ali, Kaneezan Bibi and Ghuam Abbas were sentenced to death in 2002, 1999 and 2004, respectively in different murder cases.
