Execution of mentally-ill patient halted by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday released a stay order for the execution of Imdad Ali, a schizophrenic patient who had committed a murder of a cleric.

Ali had been convicted for the killing of the cleric in 2002, but since then he had not received his death sentence until recently. When the sentence was handed down to him, Ali’s wife pled for his life, claiming that he was a patient of schizophrenia, hence, he should be pardoned from the punishment.

The court issued notices to Advocate General Punjab, Prosecutor General Punjab and Attorney General, seeking their comments on the issue. So far Ali’s death sentence has just been postponed but he has not been pardoned from it.

Earlier, the apex court had rejected a plea submitted by Ali’s lawyer, claiming that since Ali is mentally unfit, he should be pardoned as he does not understand the concept of crime and punishment.

The case was heard by a three-member bench and it was headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali. Counsel for Ali’s wife informed the court that Ali’s death warrant has been issued; however, he has not yet been executed.

The hearing of the case will resume on November 2, in which more clarity will be provided regarding Ali’s fate.

In 2002, government doctors certified Imdad Ali as being paranoid schizophrenic. He was evaluated by the doctors after he was handed the sentence for the 2001 killing of a cleric.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Oct 31 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.