MuhammadaliasKhuda Bakhsh V. ATC Makran at Turbat and 2 others,
alias · Balochistan High Court
This case concerns Muhammad alias Khuda Bakhsh, who was convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 for offences including abduction, and his conviction was upheld all the way to the Supreme Court, though he was granted credit for time already spent in custody (Section 382-B Cr.P.C.). He later petitioned the Balochistan High Court arguing that jail authorities had wrongly denied him special and ordinary remissions in his sentence that are normally granted to prisoners by the Federal and Provincial Governments. His lawyer argued this denial violated his constitutional right to equality under Article 25, since other prisoners were being given such benefits. The state's lawyer countered that Section 21-F of the Anti-Terrorism Act specifically bars such remissions for people convicted of terrorism offences.
The High Court sided with the petitioner. It held that once he had already been given the benefit of time served under Section 382-B, denying him remissions was discriminatory and inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of equal treatment under the law. The court reasoned that all prisoners should be governed by the same prison rules after conviction, regardless of which law they were convicted under, and that refusing this concession effectively deprived him of liberty in violation of Article 9 of the Constitution. The court referenced a similar Sindh High Court ruling that struck down a comparable restriction under anti-corruption law. This judgment matters because it reinforces that special laws cannot arbitrarily strip prisoners of standard remission benefits without fal
یہ مقدمہ محمد عرف خدا بخش سے متعلق ہے جسے انسداد دہشت گردی ایکٹ 1997 کے تحت اغوا سمیت دیگر جرائم میں سزا سنائی گئی تھی، اور اس کی سزا کو سپریم کورٹ تک برقرار رکھا گیا، البتہ اسے دفعہ 382-B ضابطہ فوجداری کے تحت پہلے سے حراست میں گزاری گئی مدت کا فائدہ دیا گیا۔ بعد ازاں اس نے بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ میں درخواست دائر کی جس میں یہ موقف اختیار کیا گیا کہ جیل حکام نے اسے وہ خصوصی اور عام رعایتیں (ریمشنز) دینے سے انکار کر دیا ہے جو عام طور پر وفاقی اور صوبائی حکومتیں قیدیوں کو دیتی ہیں۔ اس کے وکیل نے دلیل دی کہ یہ انکار آئین کے آرٹیکل 25 کے تحت مساوات کے بنیادی حق کی خلاف ورزی ہے، کیونکہ دیگر قیدیوں کو یہ مراعات دی جا رہی ہیں۔ ریاست کے وکیل نے اس کے جواب میں کہا کہ انسداد دہشت گردی ایکٹ کی دفعہ 21-F خاص طور پر دہشت گردی کے جرائم میں سزا