Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Monday stayed the execution of a mentally ill prisoner, Ghulam Abbas, who was to be hanged on June 18, confirmed Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), a non-governmental organisation working for Pakistani prisoners at home and abroad.

The order was issued on an application filed by JPP after the Punjab Home Department withdrew permission to allow an independent psychiatrist and two government doctors to visit Adiala Jail and evaluate Abbas, a press release issued by the NGO stated.

Imprisoned in 2004, Abbas was sentenced to death on May 31, 2006, by a district and sessions court for stabbing a neighbour.

Take a look: Death in darkness

He has spent more than 13 years on the death row and a fresh mercy petition has been filed requesting the president to grant him a reprieve.