Sarabjit’s lawyer denied permission to meet him in Pak jail, moves court

Awais Sheikh, the lawyer of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh who is languishing in a Pakistani jail for over two decades, on Monday moved court in Pakistan after he was denied permission to meet Sarabjit.

"After returning from my India visit, I submitted an application to home secretary on September 1 for permission to meet Sarabjit Singh in jail to deliver messages from his family and certain goods for his personal use. To my surprise, I was denied permission. It has been mentioned in the order that since there is no judicial proceedings pending before court, interview or meeting cannot be allowed under rules," Sheikh said in an email to Sarabjit's daughter Swapandeep on Sunday night.

"I have been meeting Sarbjit in jail since July 2009 by the orders of high court, which said that if the petitioner moves an application to the home secretary, he will be allowed to meet the prisoner in accordance to rules. The time and place will duly be communicated to him. The order of home secretary amounts to contempt of court," Sheikh added. When contacted over phone, Sheikh — who had recently visited India and handed over Sarabjit's letters to his family — told The Indian Express that he had filed a writ petition on Monday.

Saying that she failed to understand why Sheikh was denied permission, Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur said: "In his writ petition today, Sheikh has also requested that visas be given to us so that we can travel to Pakistan and meet Sarabjit. I hope we would be given visas."

Sarabjit, convicted and sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in Punjab in 1990, has been languishing in jail for more than two decades.

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