PHC dismisses appeal by Indian prisoner seeking cut in jail term

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PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday rejected the appeal of an Indian national who has been imprisoned since 2012, seeking a reduction in his sentence.

The petition was filed by Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari through senior lawyer Qazi Muhammad Anwar and human rights activist Rukhshand Naaz after being awarded the ‘three-year rigorous imprisonment (RI)’ sentence awarded by a military court.

In his petition, Ansari informed the court that he travelled to Pakistan via Jalalabad using a fake identity to meet a girl he had met online and was arrested from a hotel in Kohat in 2012.

“In 2012, Ansari was arrested by a security agency and was found guilty of spying as authorities’ recovered maps and photographs of sensitive installations from his possession,” the prosecution said, adding that, he was provided full security in the jail.

Following the hearing of the case, the court observed that the sentence could not be reduced.

“The law states that people involved in anti-state activities were not entitled to benefits under Section 382-B of the CrPC,” it was reported.

However, PHC directed authorities concerned to deport Ansari immediately after completion of his jail term on December 15, 2018.