ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was informed on Thursday that the number of convicts released on parole by provincial governments had decreased because the probation and reclamation departments concerned were practically dysfunctional in supervising and rehabilitating the probationers and parolees.

The information was provided through a report to a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP). The matter relating to parole as well as implementation of law reforms suggested by the LJCP was initiated by the Supreme Court in November 2015 on a parole case relating to Abu Malik Naseem.

Then the apex court had ordered the federal as well as the provincial governments to submit reports showing efforts to improve the system of parole under which an inmate not involved in heinous cases but already undergone ten years of imprisonment could be released temporarily after he agreed to adhere to certain conditions before the completion of the maximum sentence period. This practice also helps ameliorate overcrowding in jails.

Out of 138 reforms recommended by the LJCP in different laws, the court was told that 74 law reforms had not been implemented, though 35 had been implemented, whereas 27 implemented with suitable amendments.

Referring to parole, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sohail Mahmood told Dawn that the provincial governments were asked on Thursday by the court to furnish updates within a month through comprehensive reports highlighting genuine efforts on ground in this regard.

The DAG also told the court that after the 18th Amendment, the issue has been delegated to the provinces.

Citing the LJCP report, the DAG explained that at a meeting held at the LJCP office in the Supreme Court and attended by the home secretaries of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, the director of Punjab Probation and Reclamation and deputy inspector general of Prisons had realised that due to non-availability of requisite human resource and infrastructure, the number of convicts released by the provincial governments on parole had decreased.

Although they claimed that parole committees in all the provincial governments had been constituted to review the cases of eligible deserving convicts, there was no standard operating procedure to regulate the functioning of these committees.

The meeting was of the view, the report highlighted, that due to limited human resource and logistics, the probation officers were practically unable to supervise the offenders, helping them become law-abiding citizens and minimising risk of their reoffending. Therefore, extra human and financial resources might be allocated to the district level for effective supervision and implementing rehabilitation interventions, the LJCP stated.

Although the offices of the probation officers existed at district levels, their working affected adversely due to non-availability of proper offices, the report said, adding that it was expedient that they should be located to the premises of the district courts for close liaison with the courts and other relevant agencies.

In Punjab and KP, the probation and parole officers are being invited to the meetings of district criminal coordination committees and also accompanying district and sessions judges during their jail visits for assisting them in evaluating cases for release of offenders on probation.

However, in Sindh, except for a few districts, this practice was not being followed, the LJCP said, adding that the probation and parole officers should be bound to visit jails on a monthly basis, particularly during the visits of the sessions judges and judges of the high court for conducting inquiry and submission of reports for consideration of the cases of deserving under-trial prisoners and convicts.

The meeting also recommended that the sessions judges and superintendents of jails should recommend cases of the eligible convicts for consideration under the Good Conduct Prisoners Probation Release Act, 1926.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2017