Indo-Pak joint judicial committee completes visit to jails

NEW DELHI: The Indo-Pak joint judicial committee has completed its visit to three Indian jails during which it explored the possibility of expediting the release of Pakistani prisoners even as India sought release of its nationals who have completed their prison term in Pakistan.

The three-member panel of retired judges, comprising India's Justice MA Khan and Pakistani Justices Mian Muhammad Ajmal and Abdul Qadir Chaudhry, visited the three jails from December 27 to 29 and will submit its report to the Indian government shortly.

The panel met Pakistani prisoners lodged at Amritsar, Tihar and Jaipur jails and examined their living conditions, prison records and if their release could be expedited, official sources said.

Meanwhile, India today said more than 400 Indian prisoners are currently languishing in Pakistani jails and 90 of them have completed their prison terms and were awaiting release.

New Delhi also said among the 400 Indian prisoners, around 214 are civilian prisoners and 186 are fishermen.

"Of these, by our count, almost 90 have completed their sentences and should be released because according to the India-Pakistan bilateral agreement, all prisoners who have completed their sentence should be released within one month.

"So, we would hope that this is abided by. My understanding is that earlier this year - in some cases in March and in most other cases in July - those 90 prisoners had completed their sentence terms and, therefore, they are entitled to return India.

"And we look forward to Pakistan releasing them, and welcoming them back home," the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said.