As many as 6,808 condemned prisoners including 46 women, languishing in all 32 jails of Punjab, will get benefit after the conversion of death sentence into life-term on the occasion of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto's birthday.
According to prisoners department sources, 70 condemned prisoners whose mercy appeals have been rejected by the President of Pakistan will get a new lease of life. That will also include Sarbajeet Singh the alleged Indian spy who has been on death row.
The appeals of about 5,500 convicted prisoners are pending with the high courts against the verdict of lower courts while about 1,000 appeals are at various stages of hearing in the Supreme Court. Punjab consist of four regions in term of prisons department. There are seven jails in Lahore region, 11 in Multan, eight in Faisalabad and six in Rawalpindi.
In Lahore region: 545 convicts kept in the Central Jail, Lahore, two are in the Camp Jail, Lahore, 586 in Gujranwala, 545 in Sahiwal, 239 in Kasur, 300 in Sheikhupura, and 382 in Sialkot. In Rawalpindi region: 454 convicts are kept in the Central Jail, Rawalpindi, 153 in Attock jail, 209 in Gujrat, 140 in Jhelum, and 133 in Mandi Bahauddin jail.
In Faisalabad region, there are 631 convicts in the Central Jail, Faisalabad, 15 in district jail, Faisalabad, 272 in Mianwali jail, 210 in Jhang, 240 in Sargodha, 126 in Shahpur and 126 in Toba Tek Singh jails.
In Multan region: 462 convicts are kept in central jail, Multan, 99 in district jail Multan, 196 in Vehari, 214 in DG Khan, 201 in district jail, Bahawalnagar, 366 in central jail Bahawalpur, 124 in Rahim Yar Khan, 38 female prisoners in Multan women jail. Over 54,000 prisoners involved in various offences have been languishing in jails in Punjab. Out of them, 11,606 have been convicted and 42,831 are facing trials, sources said.