SC stays execution of mentally ill prisoner

A Supreme Court bench on Monday stayed the execution of Imdad Ali, a schizophrenic prisoner convicted in 2002 for killing a cleric.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali heard the case.

The bench also issued notices to Advocate General Punjab, Prosecutor General Punjab and Attorney General, for their comments on the issue.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan in a recent decision had said that the state could proceed with the execution of paranoid schizophrenic patient, Imdad Ali.

Imdad Ali was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2012 that doctors said impaired his “rational thinking and decision-making capabilities”, and was declared clinically insane in a medical report the following year.

The judges in a recent verdict ruled that the execution can go ahead, after finding that schizophrenia of the convict is not a permanent condition and varies according to the level of stress.

Ali has been on death row since he was convicted in 2001 of murdering a religious scholar.

The wife of Imdad Ali had sought a stay order against his hanging scheduled for Nov 2 through an application filed before the Supreme Court.

Safia Bano, the wife of Imdad Ali, had requested the court to hear her review petition by Oct 31 against the Sept 27 Supreme Court verdict confirming the death sentence.

These were the second black warrants issued for the execution of Imdad Ali. Earlier, the warrants were issued on July 26.