Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan on Tuesday directed the Punjab government to complete the finishing work of five under-construction jails in the province within two months. The judge also constituted a committee to ensure that the development work, being conducted for the jails in Hafizabad, Narowal, Shujabad, Rajanpur and Khanewal, was completed within the deadline. Punjab Advocate General Shakilur Rehman would head the committee with DIG (prisons), additional secretaries of home, communication and finance departments. Advocate Syed Moazzam Ali Shah, counsel of petitioner in the case, was also nominated as committee member. Justice Khan warned that contempt proceedings would be initiated against officials of electricity distribution companies if electric connections were not granted to Hafizabad and Rajanpur jails till October 18. Rida Qazi, a civil society member, had filed the petition against mistreatment of prisoners according to Pakistan Prisoners Code (Jail Manual) and construction of new jails in the province. She said that the provincial jails were overcrowded. She submitted that thousands of prisoners were waiting for trial as the prison population was growing, owing to increasing crime rate in Pakistan. She said that instead of reforming the criminals and making them good citizens and human beings, the over populated prisons in the country were proving a breeding ground for nurturing outlaws. Meanwhile, Supreme Court of Pakistan Acting Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Tuesday took suo motu notice on increasing incidents of children kidnapping in Punjab and sought report from the Punjab inspector general of police in this regard. The acting chief justice directed the IG to depute high-ranking officer to provide details of the incidents. He observed that media had been widely reporting that more than 600 children had been abducted from the province and approximately 300 from Lahore. Nisar observed, “It had been highlighted that such abductions were orchestrated with nefarious object of extracting vital body organs of the children and for sexual abuse or beggary.”