Pak court says jail overcrowding unconstitutional, lets inmates sue govt

Most of the victims of the deteriorating criminal justice system are those who belong to economically and socially marginalized sections of the society

A Pakistani court has declared that overcrowding in jails is unconstitutional and ruled that a prisoner can sue the government and prison authorities for inhuman treatment during imprisonment, media reports said on Monday.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC), after hearing the petitions filed by Adiala jail inmates, issued directives to the federal government and Islamabad's commissioner for observance of provisions in jail manual as well as in the international conventions and treaties related to the well-being of inmates, Dawn news reported.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, in the 38-page verdict, observed that the "intolerable and shockingly inhuman and degrading treatment highlighted in