Pak SC bars carrying out death penalty for 3 mentally ill inmates

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday barred the execution of three mentally-ill convicts on death row, saying that as it does not “meet the ends of justice”. The three prisoners, Kanizan Bibi, Imdad Ali and Ghulam Abbas, had spent 30, 18 and 14 years on death row, respectively, while exhibiting acute symptoms of mental illness.On Wednesday, the bench commuted Bibi and Ali’s death sentences to life imprisonment, while it directed a fresh mercy petition to be prepared on behalf of Abbas. It also directed the Punjab provincial government to immediately shift the three convicts to the Punjab Institute of Mental Health, Lahore, for treatment.