Ailing virologist Khalil Chishti, detained in Rajasthan for nearly two decades on a charge of involvement in a murder, arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday after being given special permission by India's Supreme Court to return home to meet his family.
After 20 years of stay in India, 82-year-old Pakistani microbiologist Mohammed Khalil Chishti, facing life imprisonment in a murder case, was on Thursday permitted by the Supreme Court to visit Pakistan for a temporary stay, subject to certain conditions.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday freed Pakistan microbiologist Mohammed Khalil Chishti, saying that the sentence served by him so far is enough and he can return back to his country. The apex court said in its judgment that no further custody of Dr Khalil Chishti was required
Sarabjit Singh's Pakistani lawyers now believe that following the Supreme Court's decision to release Dr Chishti on bail, there are chances of the Indian national getting a pardon from President Asif Zardari who had just returned from Ajmer Sharif, reports Amir Mir from Islamabad
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has asked Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to examine if the request of a Supreme Court judge for pardon to Pakistani prisoner Khalil Chishty could be considered on "humanitarian" grounds.
Press Council chief Justice Markandey Katju, who has requested Maharashtra Governor K Sankarnarayanan to pardon Sanjay Dutt in an arms case related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts, on Friday said he was lending his support to the Bollywood actor only on humanitarian grounds.
The special jet will fly the 82-year-old Chishti from New Delhi to Pakistan, where he will be received on his arrival by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, official sources said.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday ordered authorities to take "every possible step" to bring home Dr Khalil Chishti, an ailing 80-year-old scientist who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court after being given a life sentence in a murder case.
Days after the Supreme Court gave nod to Pakistani prisoner Khalil Chishti to visit his country, Press Council Chairperson Justice Markandey Katju has appealed to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to grant freedom to Sarabjit Singh, who is lodged in a jail there. In a letter addressed to Zardari, he said, "The Indian Supreme Court had recently allowed Chishti to go back to Pakistan. I, therefore, appeal to you in the name of humanity to release Sarabjit Singh," he wrote.
Having been granted permission by the Supreme Court to return to Pakistan, an elated Khalil Chishti, who is serving life term in a 20-year-old murder case in Rajasthan, on Thursday asked everyone back home to be ready to do the bhangra.
A decision on the mercy petition of 80-year-old Pakistani prisoner Khalil Chishty is likely to take some time with Rajasthan Governor Shivraj Patil seeking more information on the case on Tuesday.
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