Arguing that the government cannot discriminate between the span of imprisonment of one life convict and the other, Pushpinder Kaur, the lawyer for M A Qadeer, who is in jail for the murder of ACP Sattaiah in 1990, said on Monday that he should be immediately released.
In a representation to special chief secretary (home) M Chaya Ratan, Kaur stated on behalf of Qadeer’s wife Sabera Begum that his imprisonment for more that 22 years violates a Supreme Court order of 2007.
She said that the government had argued for Qadeer’s life-long imprisonment based on a government order (GO 93 dated April 24, 2004) which says that a person convicted of killing a public servant has to be in prison until his or her death. But the Supreme Court had said that there can be no discrimination in the term of punishment between one life convict and the other. Though life conviction is for 20 years, the convict is ordinarily released after he completes 14 years in prison.
Kaur also argued that the GO came later while the murder was committed in 1990, and hence it cannot be applied to Qadeer.
Kaur presented the memo to the special chief secretary, home, and IG, prisons, at the August 3 directive of the high court. The court has asked the government to give a ‘reasoned response’ to the wife of Qadeer within six weeks of receiving the petition from her.
She said that she was seeking the release of Qadeer on both legal and humanitarian grounds. Qadeer is suffering from multiple ailments including high level diabetes and the family had urged the government earlier to release the 61-year-old convict on humanitarian grounds. “The special chief secretary has informed me Qadeer will be released for three days this month to celebrate Ed with his family,” Kaur told.
Qadeer was a constable when he murdered ACP Sattiah during the communal riots that took place in Hyderabad in 1990.
–Agencies