A mentally ill 74-year-old Christian blasphemy accused has been released by the Supreme Court after 23 years, it has emerged.
The Supreme Court, after setting the judgements of the high court and trial court aside, observed that the appellant was more than 74 years of age, not of sound mind, and had spent around 23 years in prison, most of which was in a death cell.
“The opinion of the Medical Board raises doubt regarding the culpability of the appellant and its benefit cannot be withheld in the facts and circumstances of this case. The benefit of doubt is, therefore, extended in favor of the appellant and consequently he is acquitted from the charge framed against him,” read the nine-page judgement of the apex court, penned by Justice Athar Minallah.
“The conduct of the appellant during the investigation and the trial was not that of a normal and sane person. The contents of the letter reflected signs of grandeur, hallucination and delusional flight of ideas. Though the abnormality was obvious from the conduct and contents of the letter, neither the prosecution nor the trial court had the appellant medically examined by specialists in the field of psychiatry,” the judgement added.
The court said if the man was not required to remain in prison on any other charge, he was free to go, and that it expected for the individual’s medical treatment to continue even after release.
It merits a mention that the case in question had been pending before the top court since 2014 and was heard by several benches more than a dozen times since 2017, but no decision was taken.
The case pertained to a complaint lodged against the man at Lahore’ Gawalmandi Police Station in September 2001, under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The appellant was subsequently arrested, and after completion of the investigation, a report was filed in court. The appellant had pleaded guilty to the charge framed against him on June 28, 2002.
The trial court, upon conclusion of trial, had convicted the appellant for commission of the alleged offence and sentenced him to death. He was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs500,000, which, in case of default, was to be recovered as arrears of land revenue.
He had appealed the sentence in the high court, but the same was dismissed on June 30, 2014.
After examining the accused’s record, the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) in Lahore had constituted a board to evaluate him, resulting in a Bipolar Affective Disorder diagnosis.
He was later admitted to a hospital for treatment.