ISLAMABAD, May 22: The Supreme Court has taken serious notice of violation of its order by the governments of Balochistan and the NWFP regarding release of prisoners involved in bailable offences and has summoned their home secretaries on Tuesday to explain their position.

“A prisoner involved in a petty crime has more right than the home secretary sitting in an air-conditioned room,” observed a bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad on Monday.

“We are very much upset over the situation,” the CJ observed.

On a suo motu notice, the bench was hearing the issue of detention of prisoners involved in petty crimes.

“Home secretaries should justify as to why prisoners involved in such crimes are still in custody and not being produced before the concerned courts for their release,” the bench ordered when Balochistan Assistant Advocate-General Sultan Ali failed to satisfy the court.

The sessions courts concerned were ordered to take necessary steps and expeditiously decide cases to release such prisoners.

Steps should be taken for the release of women, children and juveniles confined in jails, the court ordered.

The CJ referred to a letter regarding non-segregation of men and women inmates and absence of women personnel in Gadani Jail. “This is a sheer violation of law,” the CJ observed.

According to a report of the prisons inspector-general presented before the court at the last hearing, 524 people involved in bailable offences were in jail — 286 from Punjab, 146 from Sindh, 84 from the NWFP and eight from Balochistan.

Sindh Assistant Advocate-General Qazi Khalid told the court on Monday that 142 of 146 such inmates in the province had been released. The provincial government had also released 3,525 prisoners by arranging Rs10.6 million through contributions from philanthropists and Home Minister Rauf Siddiqui.