SC commutes death sentences of two mentally challenged prisoners to life imprisonment

The Supreme Court (SC) commuted on Wednesday the death sentences of mentally challenged patients Kanizan Bibi and Imdad Ali to life imprisonment.

Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, headed the five-member bench comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah. The SC had reserved its verdict on whether mentally ill death-row prisoners can be executed.

Bibi spent 30 years, while Ali has spent 18 years on death row. The SC has directed the Punjab government to immediately shift the accused from prison to the Punjab Institute of Mental Health, Lahore.

Regarding the case of another mentally challenged inmate Ghulam Abbas, the SC directed a fresh mercy petition to be prepared in accordance with the relevant Prison Rules and submitted to the president.

In its judgment, the apex court said that not every mental illness shall automatically qualify for an exemption from carrying out the death sentence. "This exemption will be applicable only in that case where a medical board, consisting of mental health professionals, certifies after a thorough examination and evaluation that the condemned prisoner no longer has higher mental functions," the verdict read.

The federal and provincial governments have also been instructed to immediately form a medical board comprising of three qualified psychiatrists and two psychologists from public sector hospitals for the examination of the condemned prisoners who are on death row, DAWN reported.