Two years ago inside the precincts of Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail, retired Justice Amarbir Singh Gill had met a “tall and able-bodied” Sarabjit Singh. The next time, the death row convict was on a ventilator. “Kirpal not do anything as his own cell was locked,” he said. Kripal Singh also told the panel members that Sarabjit had been deeply worried about repeated threats to his life. “It was our considered view that without the involvement of jail authorities, Sarabjit could not have been attacked,” said Gill.
He also did not buy the official narration of Sarabjit’s attack that only two prisoners were involved in the attack. “This is my personal view, but Sarabjit could not have been overpowered by just two people. There had to be more… He was a tall, stout person and a former wrestler”.
The panel members had met with Sarabjit’s family in the Lahore hotel they were staying, as well as with his lawyer Awais Sheikh. “He (Sheikh) told us that at each meeting with Sarabjit, there is usually an Intelligence officer alongside. Sarabjit had also told the IB official that he had been threatened several times,” said Justice Gill.
The joint committee had asked for the detailed inquiry report from the jail authorities, who had promised to share their probe results. “But, we still have to get a copy,” he noted.
The judicial committee’s formation, made up of four retired judges each from India and Pakistan, had been announced in 2007, following which there were three visits made in 2008 itself to jails in both countries. But, the 26/11 attacks caused the committee going into dormancy for over two years, before it was revived in 2011. The fourth meeting took place in April 2011 when the panel members travelled to jails in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore. The next visit to India was planned for June, but finally the visit took place only in January 2012. This visit by the Indo-Pak judicial committee was not a routine trip, but was “triggered” by a request from the Indian government, following the death of Chambail Singh in January, in the same jail as Sarabjit Singh. With New Delhi pressuring the panel to quickly schedule their trip, they had to leave behind two of their colleagues. “Justice Amarjeet Chaudhury had sustained a leg fracture and Justice Rai had some previous engagements in the Supreme Court,” said Gill.
According to official figures, there are 535 Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails, which include 483 fishermen. On the other side, there are 273 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. As per officials, the main beneficiaries of the panel’s visit have been the fishermen, who earlier used to languish in local jails without the Indian high commission being informed or being granted any consular visits. The implementation of the consular access agreement of 2008 was uneven, as the committee discovered 29 Indian prisoners in Karachi who had completed sentence over a month ago.
Justice Gill also remembered heart-breaking cases of mentally unsound prisoners– 20 in Lahore jail—who obviously could not communicate their status and therefore whose nationality could not be verified.