A three-member Supreme Court bench on Wednesday directed all provinces to give their opinion through their advocate generals on 10 life sentences awarded to a person if the life sentences should begin simultaneously or should be enforced subsequently, one followed by another.
The bench comprising Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain was hearing a plea filed by Ali Khan Kakar imprisoned in Machh Jail in Balochistan. He was awarded a life sentence 10 times. He has undergone 54 years of imprisonment and the sentence is continuing.
In his plea to the apex court, he stated that the life sentences awarded to him should have been enforced simultaneously and he should be released since he had spent 54 years in jail.
Additional Advocate General Balochistan Azam Khattak opined before the court that if life sentences are awarded in a single FIR, the sentences are applicable simultaneously. However, if they are awarded on separate FIRs the prisoner would have to undergo the life sentences separately. The court, however, directed all provinces to submit their opinion on the matter through their advocate generals before October 14.