Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa has ordered to constitute a larger bench to determine the exact length of a life sentence.
He issued the directive on Monday while hearing a petition seeking a reduction in a life sentence for a murder convict.
The convict Haroonul Rashid has been in jail since 1997 when he was given life imprisonment for 12 times in 12 different murder cases.
Rashid’s lawyer told the court that his client had served 22 years in jail, adding that the court had allowed the sentences to be served concurrently.
The CJP observed that it was a misconception that a life sentence spans over 25 years.
“When we don’t know how long a person is going to live, how can we halve a life sentence,” he added.
Chief Justice said he had been waiting for such a case to determine the exact length of a life sentence.
“Since days and nights are both counted in jails, a convict comes out within five years,” Justice Khosa said. He added that the time was right to clarify this confusion and determine the exact length of the sentence.
He then issued summons to the attorney general, provincial advocate generals, and prosecutor general and ordered the registrar office to set up a hearing in the first week of October.
He had expressed interest in defining the life imprisonment law ‘at an appropriate time.’
