PESHAWAR, June 30: The mother of a juvenile offender has requested the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court to waive the condition of producing sureties before the court for the release of her son.

The boy, namely Sheraz Ali, was granted bail by an additional district and sessions judge, Tariq Yousafzai, on June 22 after he had spent more than a year in a prison.

However, he was not released as he could not furnish two sureties of Rs200,000 each under the court order. Sheraz Ali's widowed mother, Shaheen Kausar, told Dawn that she belonged to a poor family and was not in a position to produce the sureties. She said that the court had also directed her to produce such guarantors who are resourceful.

She requested the chief justice to waive the condition and release her son who, she said, was the sole breadwinner of the family. Ms Kausar further said that she could produce guarantors but they would not be resourceful.

Sheraz Ali was arrested by the crimes investigation department in April 2003, while he was travelling on a Suzuki pick-up. Pick-up driver Fareedullah Khan was also arrested. The CID officials had recovered 100kgs of charas from the vehicle.

Both were charged under section 9(c) of the Control of Narcotics Substance Act. Initially, the two accused were tried by an additional district and sessions judge and Sheraz Ali was sentenced to life imprisonment whereas the driver was acquitted.