ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday referred an appeal seeking suspension of the death sentence of mentally-ill prisoner Khizar Hayat to a larger bench for hearing, and adjourned the case for an indefinite period.

Mr Hayat, a former police constable, was convicted in October 2001 for killing a fellow policeman. He was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2003. He has spent nearly 15 years on death row. Mr Hayat was first diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic in 2008 by jail medical authorities.

In 2010, the jail medical officer recommended that Mr Hayat needed specialised treatment and should be shifted to the psychiatric facility. However, this was never done. In 2017, the Lahore High Court (LHC) stayed the execution of Mr Hayat, but rejected his mother’s appeal for a stay in December 2018.

On Saturday, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of the issuing of a death warrant for the prisoner and sought a report to ascertain his ailment, suspending his sentence until further orders. He had also directed the law officer to verify whether the condemned prisoner was mentally ill.

On Monday, a two-member bench — comprising Justices Manzoor Ahmad Malik and Sardar Tariq Masood — heard the appeal for suspension of Mr Hayat’s death sentence filed by his mother Iqbal Bano. Jail officials and a mental health specialist were present in court, along with Mr Hayat’s lawyer.

During the course of the hearing, the counsel for Mr Hayat adopted before the court that the apex court had earlier stopped the execution of sentence in similar cases.

Justice Malik remarked that as to why the counsel had never raised the matter of Mr Hayat’s mental condition before the trial court. The counsel replied that Mr Hayat had developed the psychological disorder during the trial.

He said that a six-member medical board set up in 2016 had confirmed that the prisoner was schizophrenic, and argued that according to Section 444 of the jail rules, a person with a mental illness could not be executed.

Justice Malik then asked the mental health expert if he was convinced that the prisoner was ill.

Responding to the query, the doctor said: “Khizar Hayat is suffering from a mental illness and for further satisfaction, a medical board can be set up to examine his state.”

Justice Malik observed that Mr Hayat’s medical report was not clear and feared that if the court extended relief to the petitioner other convicts could start appealing against their convictions using mental illness as a pretext.

The bench then referred the matter to the Chief Justice for constituting a larger bench and adjourned the case indefinitely.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2019