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Initializing Secure Chambers
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Initializing Secure Chambers
Official Citation: 2024 PCRLJ 1441
Court / Jurisdiction: Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Year of Decision: 2023
Decision Date: 2023-03-20
Parties: Jail Superintendent, District Jail Kotli and another vs Muhammad Riaz
Ruling Summary: This decision was rendered by the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on 2023-03-20, officially reported as 2024 PCRLJ 1441. In this matter between Jail Superintendent, District Jail Kotli and another and Muhammad Riaz, the court adjudicated key questions of statutory construction, procedural regularity, and legal precedent under Pakistani law.
Core Holding: The honorable bench evaluated governing statutory provisions and judicial authorities to establish the rights of the parties, delivering the binding reasoning set out below.
Case cited as 2024 PCRLJ 1441
Court Name: Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Judge(s): Raza Ali Khan, Khawaja Muhammad Nasim, Raja Saeed Akram Khan (C.J) Title: Jail Superintendent, District Jail Kotli and another vs Muhammad Riaz Case No.: Criminal Appeal No. 35 of 2023 Date of Judgment:2023-03-20 Reported As: 2024 PCRLJ 1441 Result: Petition allowed
JUDGMENT
JUDGMENT RAJA SAEED AKRAM KHAN, C.J. The convict-respondent, herein, filed an application before the High Court for shifting him from District Jail Kotli to District Jail Sudhnoti. The learned High Court through the impugned judgment dated 27.01.2022, accepted the application and issued the direction for shifting of the convict-respondent to District Jail Sudhnoti. 2. Despite repeated notice no one appeared on behalf of the respondent, hence, we constrained to decide the appeal after hearing the earned Advocate-General and perusing the available record. 3. The learned Advocate-General submitted that the prevailing situation of District Jail Sudhnoti is not up to mark. The said Jail is already overcrowded and in view of the security measures the authorities shifted the convict to the District Jail Kotli as the same is in better condition than the District Jail Sudhnoti, but the learned High Court overlooked this aspect of the case. He prayed for acceptance of appeal. 4. We have heard the arguments and examined the record made available. In our view it cannot be left on the choice of the convicts to choose any sail rather the concerned authorities may take any decision in this regard while taking into account the safety measures and other relevant factors. In the instant case, the version of the learned Advocate-General is that in view of the security measures as well as the strength of the convicts, District Jail Kotli is better than District Jail Sudhnoti hence, there is no reason to compel the concerned authorities to shift the convict in an overcrowded jail where the security situation is also not up to mark as stated by the learned Advocate-General.