ISLAMABAD, Nov 19: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Punjab home secretary to explain that under what authority he had determined that a convict was minor at the time of commission of offence.

The bench, headed by Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, directed the home secretary to explain that after the final adjudication of the matter by the Supreme Court in a petition No 261/99 which was decided on Sept 13, 2000, what was his authority to determine whether the respondent, Najeebullah, was a minor at the time of the commission of offence.

The court observed that in its opinion, prima facie, any such exercise was tantamount to violating judicial order.

The court directed the home secretary to submit his explanation either by appearing in person or through his authorised representative. The court also directed the IG Prison and the superintendent of Central Jail, Mianwali, to give their explanation.

The advocate-general Punjab was also required to appear on the next date of hearing.

Najeebullah, a convict on death row, after exhausting all the judicial and executive fora for setting aside his capital punishment, had approached the LHC that he was a minor at the time of the commission of offence.

After getting a favourable order from the LHC, a committee was constituted to determine whether Najeebullah was over the age of 18 at the time of commission of offence. The court, however, modified its order through a subsequent order.