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Supreme Court allows jailed Pak scientist Chishti to visit Pakistan temporarily |
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed jailed microbiologist Mohammed Khalil
Chishti to visit Pakistan temporarily, but asked him to report back to it by November
1 this year. Dr. Chishti, 82, said that he was relieved and happy with the apex
court order, and was looking forwarding to going home. He said that he was thankful
to the Indian judicial system for releasing him, and urged the Pakistan Government
to release jailed Indians as well. The Supreme Court, however, has asked Dr. Chishti
to deposit a surety sum of Rs.5 lakh with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad
. On Monday, the Supreme Court had indicated that it may allow 82-year-old Chishti,
awarded life term in a 20-year-old murder case, to visit his country temporarily.
A bench of justices P Sathasivam and J Chelameswar asked Additional Solicitor
General Mohan Parasaran to seek necessary instructions from the Union ministries
of the home affairs and the external affairs about the conditions that could be
imposed on Dr Chishti, pending disposal of his appeal against his conviction.
The bench gave the directions amid the Centre's objection that if allowed to go
to Pakistan temporarily, Chishti may not return to India at all. He is presently
out on bail, but has been asked to confine himself to Ajmer only. "Merely because
he is a Pakistani, can we treat him differently? We can understand if you say
he has links with some terrorist organisation," Justice Sathasivam heading the
bench observed and posted the matter for further hearing to Thursday. The apex
court said it would like to consider Chishti's plea in view of the special circumstances
of his case. The bench said Chishti was an eminent scientist of global repute
and is 82 year old with no previous criminal record and the issues involved are
the bilateral relations between the two countries. "He (Chishti) has pointed out
that he has not been able to meet even his children and grand children, who have
grown up," the bench observed and also said it would like to take up the scientist's
appeal for hearing and expeditious disposal during October and November. Parasaran
maintained that the appeal can be expeditiously taken up but Chishti should not
be allowed to go to Pakistan and instead be allowed treatment in Delhi . The ASG
pointed that there is no bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan on ensuring
the return of any convict who is enlarged on bail. However, the bench was not
convinced with the arguments and said, "Let him go and come back. Some times we
have to be optimistic". Earlier senior counsel U U Lalit pleaded that Chishti
be granted permission to visit Pakistan as a special case since he was suffering
from various geriatric problems and was confined to Ajmer for the past 20 years
and had served one-and-a-half year of his sentence. He submitted that the court
may impose any condition on Chishti for securing his return at the time of the
hearing of his appeal, scheduled during October. Earlier on May 4, the Supreme
Court had agreed to hear Chishti's plea to visit his country and had sought Centre's
response to it. Chishti had been granted bail by the apex court on April 9. Held
guilty in a 20-year-old murder case, he had been serving life term in a Rajasthan's
Ajmer jail. The apex court had granted bail to Chishti on humanitarian grounds,
considering his old age and the fact that he has been in India since 1992 after
a murder case was lodged against him when he came to visit Ajmer to see his ailing
mother. Chishti had come to see his mother in 1992 when he got embroiled in a
brawl, and, in the ensuing melee, one of his neighbours was shot dead while his
nephew got injured. Born in Ajmer to a prosperous family of caretakers of the
Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti shrine, Chishti was studying in Pakistan at the time
of partition in 1947 and chose to stay there.
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