February 6, 2006	Monday	Muharram 7, 1427

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PESHAWAR, Feb 5: A mentally-ill prisoner who has already served out his jail sentence in Bannu central prison is still waiting for a tribal administration to issue his release order.

In August 2005, the commissioner of the Frontier Crime Regulations commuted the jail term of the prisoner, Tahir Hussain, from 54 years to 14 years and reduced the fine imposed on him from Rs150,000 to Rs45,000.

Hussain, 34, has now spent 16 years behind bars but the administration is still reluctant to release him.

He was arrested on June 9, 1990, on charges of terrorism and was found guilty of possessing explosives. The assistant political agent sentenced him to 14 years rigorous imprisonment on three counts on June 30, 1990, and ordered that the sentences should run consecutively and not concurrently.

A medical examination of the prisoner confirmed in May 2005 that he had a history of mental illness and was still suffering from bouts of derangement.

His family members said that on different occasions he had been shifted to Peshawar Mental Hospital, which is adjacent to the prison. But as soon as he showed signs of recovery the authorities would again move him back to prison.

Although the prisoner has completed his sentence, the administration put forward the pretext that it had filed a revision petition before the FCR tribunal against the order of the commissioner.

The Voice of Prisoners, the organization pursuing his case, said the administration was deviating from the normal course of law as a prisoner could not be detained if he had already served out his sentence. He should not be held on the grounds that an appeal would be filed against him, it said.

“If the FCR tribunal suspends the order of the commissioner, the Peshawar High Court’s chief justice should take suo motu notice of this illegality,” said the chairman of the organisation, Noor Alam Khan.

He said that although the high court could not exercise jurisdiction in the tribal areas under the constitution, but “as the prisoner had been in illegal detention in a settled area, the court could therefore question this illegality”.

Under the FCR, the appellate forum against the judicial order of the assistant political agent or political agent is the FCR commissioner. A revision petition could be filed against the order of the commissioner before the FCR tribunal, comprising the provincial home and law secretaries.