The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday directed the federal government to get repatriated Pakistanis languishing in prisons of countries Pakistan has extradition treaties with, so they may be able to serve the rest of their sentences back home.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, heard the federal government’s appeal against Qamar Abbas Gondal and former section officer of the Ministry of Interior, Ali Muhammad Malik.
Gondal was sentenced to prison by a British court for 11 years in a narcotics case in 2008. After a brief period, he was sent to Pakistan to complete his sentence but was freed prematurely after a few days of his arrival when Ali Muhammad Malik had prepared a fake circular letter for his release. Qamar was released in 2011 instead of 2019.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had challenged the acquittal in the trial court that had sentenced Qamar under Section 468 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Ali Muhammad under Section 201, 468 and 471 of PPC and under section 5 (2) of the Prevention of the Corruption Act, 1947 in connection with his involvement in tampering with official record.