ISLAMABAD, March 24: A Supreme Court bench on Monday said it would decide whether convicts were entitled that the period of their imprisonment during trial should also be counted in their imprisonment or not.

The bench led by Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry asked the counsel concerned to come prepared on the next hearing because the court wanted to pronounce an authoritative judgment on the issue as it would affect a large number of convicts.

The issue arose when a convict, presently lodged in the Central Jail Karachi, approached the Supreme Court and pleaded that he remained behind the bars for three years during his trial, therefore the period should be counted in his imprisonment awarded to him.

The court fixed March 31, to take up the case again.

The same bench in another case decided to take up the matter of Annual Confidential Report (ACR) in the last week of April.

The court would decide whether the ACRs were subjective assessment of any officer or objective.