QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court has ruled that prisoners convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 1997 are not legally entitled to any form of general or special remission or pardon.

The court declared that Section 21-F of the ATA explicitly excludes terrorists from eligibility for clemency or sentence reduction, leaving no room for interpretation or relaxation.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Kamran Khan Mulakhail and Justice Najamuddin Mengal announced the verdict while hearing several constitutional petitions filed in 2023 and 2024, dismissing all of them collectively.

According to the judgement, the petitioners had argued that they were entitled to the president’s pardon under Article 45 of the Constitution and to general or special remission under the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978.

However, the court held that the insertion of Section 21-F in 2001 was specifically intended to permanently exclude terrorism convicts from the scope of pardons. The bench noted that the amendment was a deliberate legislative act aimed at protecting public safety amid rising incidents of terrorism.

The court emphasised that the Anti-Terrorism Act is a special law that takes precedence over general laws, including the Prisons Act of 1894. It further rejected the argument that denying remission to terrorism convicts violates Article 25 (Equality Before Law) of the Constitution, stating that terrorism convicts constitute a distinct legal class, and such classification is reasonable and constitutionally valid.

Citing precedents from the Supreme Court cases of Sherwani, Government of Balochistan vs. Azizullah, and Dr Mubashir Hassan vs. Federation of Pakistan, the bench affirmed that reasonable classification is permissible under the Constitution.

The court directed the Home Depar­t­ment, Inspector General of Prisons, and relevant superintendents to immediately revoke all illegal remissions granted contrary to the law and recalculate the sentences of affected inmates.

It also instructed that future pardons or remissions must strictly comply with legal provisions, warning that officers violating the law would face disciplinary action.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2025