Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Monday stayed the execution of a schizophrenic convict, Imdad Ali.

He was scheduled to be executed on November 2. However, the top court on Monday issued a short order, halting the execution till the next date of the case hearing, fixed for the second week of November.

SC also issued notices to the attorney general of Pakistan, the Punjab advocate general and the Punjab prosecutor general.

The stay has been granted after Imdad Ali’s wife, Safia Bano, filed a review petition against the top court’s earlier judgment.

Earlier, the court had ruled: “Schizophrenia is not a permanent mental disorder; rather it is an imbalance which can increase or decrease depending on the level of stress.” The top court had upheld the verdict of Lahore High Court, Multan Bench. “In recent years, the prognosis has been improved with drugs, by vigorous psychological and social managements, and rehabilitation. It is, therefore, a recoverable disease, which in all the cases, does not fall with the definition of ‘mental disorder’ as defined in the Mental Health Ordinance, 2001,” the top court had observed.

The top court had stated that rules relating to mental illness were not subjugative to delay the execution of death sentence, which had been awarded to the convict.

On Monday, a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheerl Jamali and comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, took up the review petition.

Safia Bano, in her review petition, stated that the SC had relied upon an Indian’s court judgment, which was not applicable in Imdad Ali’s case, adding that the Indian court had sought to address as to whether a convict was suffering from any mental disorder.

“But in this matter, the question is whether or not schizophrenia falls within the definition of mental disorder,” the review petition stated.

The petitioner further stated that schizophrenia was known to be the result of structural and biochemical changes in the brain and it was classified as a chronic and permanent mental disorder.

“Indeed, the medical records in prison reflect that he has consistently displayed symptoms of schizophrenia, and is not showing signs of improvement. He has active psychotic symptoms,” stated the review petition.

It further stated that the mandatory provisions of Chapter 18 and Rule 362 of the Pakistan Prison Rules must be enforced in an established case of mental illness in order to prevent a serious violation of fundamental rights.

Imdad Ali has been on the death row for the past 14 years, including three years in solitary confinement. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2013.