The Indian government on Tuesday opposed the repatriation of Pakistani scientist Mohammad Khalil Chishti after he was released from a jail in India. During the hearing in the Indian Supreme Court, the Indian government argued that it was not in favour of Chishti’s repatriation to Pakistan, saying that Chishti might not return for future hearings in the Indian apex court. “The court is giving Chishti’s case special consideration, given his extra-ordinary qualifications,” one of the apex court judges remarked. “The government should also adopt a positive and constructive stance in this regard,” the judge added. Earlier, the court had asked for the Indian government’s stance regarding Chishti’s case. Dr Khalil Chishti is Pakistan’s first virologist. He had gone to India in 1992 to see his ailing mother where he was implicated in a murder case. After an 18-year-long trial, the octogenarian professor was awarded life imprisonment and sent to the Ajmer jail in January last year. President Asif Ali Zardari had written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month, seeking Chishti’s release and repatriation to Pakistan on humanitarian grounds.
