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Chisti is free to go to Pak; can Sarabjit come back to Ind?

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 Sarabjit Singh and Khalil Chisti
New Delhi, Dec 12: The 81-year-old Pakistani virologist Khalil Chisti is a free man now. The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday, Dec 12 granted freedom to Chisti to go back home in Pakistan after almost two-decade.

The SC said that Mohammad Khalil Chisti, who was convicted and sentenced to life in a murder case, was free to go back to his country.

Now, the question is - Will Sarabjit Singh, an Indian who is currently imprisoned in Kot Lakhpat jail, Pakistan since 1990, get his freedom? His family back in India is fighting for his freedom for a longtime.

He was sentenced to death in 1991 but his hanging has been repeatedly postponed. So far, five mercy petitions have been filed on his behalf, in which Sarabjit maintains that he has served 22 years of prison term for a crime he has not committed.

Pakistani authorities alleged his involvement in 1990 serial bomb blasts in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 people.

An apex court bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi had heard Chisti's appeal. The court has directed authorities to return all documents, including passport to Chisti, who is free to return to Pakistan without any restriction.

Chisti, a virologist in Karachi Medical College, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Jan 2011. The 81-year-old Pakistani man had been placed under house arrest for 18 years before conviction. He moved the Rajasthan High Court against the lower court's verdict but the court upheld his life imprisonment sentence.

Chisti and some others had been accused of killing a man, identified as Irshid, in a fight in Apr 1992. Chisti was on a visit to Ajmer for offering prayers at the dargah at the time.

Chisti has expressed his happiness to be able to go back to Pakistan. Chisti told Dainik Bhaskar: "I'm happy with Indian govt and people of India. Just want to return home (Pakistan)."

OneIndia News

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