Release of UTPs: SC sets aside directions of IHC, SHC

The Supreme Court holding that the high court could not exercise suo motu jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution recalled the directions passed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the Sindh High Court (SHC) for the release of the prisoners.
It ordered that the prisoners released in pursuance to those orders (the IHC and the SHC) to be taken into custody except those falling within the categories suggested by the Attorney General for Pakistan.
Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan had proposed; "Accused persons charged for offences under non-prohibitory clauses or under vagrancy law or offences carrying less than three years sentence may be considered for bail subject to; (a) the benefit shall not extend in cases involving abuse/violent acts against children and women. (b) benefit shall first be extended to persons otherwise suffering from ailments or physical or mental disability. (c) benefit shall be extended to UTPs who are 55 years of age or older and then other male UTPs provided there is no history of past convictions. (d) benefit shall be extended to all women/juvenile UTPs."
The apex court exercising powers under Article 187 of Constitution set aside the impugned directions issued by the IHC and the SHC for granting bails to the accused/convicts, re-called them.
The court also set aside the IHC order dated March 24, 2020, in crl misc no 238/2020 for granting bail to the accused charged under various provisions of Control of Narcotic of Substances Act, 1997, and bails granted thereunder are re-called.
Likewise, the IHC order dated March 26, 2020, passed in WP No 985 of 2020, granting bails to the accused involved in the NAB cases, was also set aside and bails granted thereunder re-called.
It declared the steps purportedly taken in exercise of powers under Section 401 of the code by the Sindh government and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa without lawful authority, without jurisdiction and of no legal effects.
A five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, announced the judgment on the petition of Raja Muhammad Nadeem filed under articles 184(3) and 187 of the Constitution against the release of the UTPs by the IHC and the SHC due to coronavirus pandemic.
In the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak, the IHC and the SHC had passed the omnibus orders for the release of accused/convicts. The IHC on March 20, 2020, passed order for the release of 408 under-trial prisoners; while on the SHC verbal directions 519 prisoners were released in Sindh province.
The judgment authored by Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed noted that no judge of a high court or the Supreme Court was robed, crowned and sceptered as a king to do whatever suits his whim and caprice. In all eventualities, he is bound to abide by and adhere to the law and the Constitution.