The five-member Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court is to determine if a convict under Hadood laws is entitled the facility of parole as was afforded to one Muhammad Shafi of Dera Ismail Khan in March this year.
The Court has issued notices to Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan and the four Advocates-General of the Provinces to present their points of view on the Parole Rules and also if these could be applied to convicts who had offended society under the Hudood laws.
The Home Secretary of the NWFP who had accepted the parole application has also been asked to appear before the Shariat Appellate Bench on Wednesday.
In answering a call from the SAB, the Advocate General of NWFP on Monday said that the prisoner was paroled "by a competent authority" which under the rules is the Home Secretary.
Not satisfied with his stand, the Judges directed him to file concise statement along with "relevant documents to show under what provision of law petitioner had been released on parole". He was also directed to file list of identical convicts who had been released on parole by his Provincial Government.
The Sessions Judge of Dera Ismail Khan sentenced Muhammad Shafi, according to the file of the case, to seven years rigorous imprisonment under the Hudood Ordinance of 1979.
On appeal, the Federal Shariat Court maintained the conviction and he filed an appeal before the Supreme Court. During the pendency of instant petition Muhammad Shafi was released on parole in March last.
The Appellate Bench is composed of Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Dr Allama Khalid Mahmud and Justice Dr Rashid Ahmed Jullundhari.
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