ISLAMABAD: The Supr­eme Court on Monday directed the Punjab government to submit a list of five independent specialists of integrity on mental disorders for a thorough examination by a proper medical board of death row prisoner Imdad Ali — a 50-year-old patient of paranoid schizophrenia.

A three-judge SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, also ordered the jail superintendent to produce the medical history of Imdad during trial and after his conviction.

Advocate General for Punjab Shakeel Rehman and the superintendent are required to furnish the record at the next hearing on Wednesday.

The court is seized with the petitions moved by Imdad’s wife Safia Bano and the Punjab government seeking review of its Sept 27 judgement paving the way for the execution of the convict.

On Oct 31, the Supreme Court had stayed Imdad’s execution by suspending the second black warrant. The earlier black warrant for his execution was issued on July 26.

Imdad was sentenced to death in 2002 for killing a cleric. The president rejected his mercy petition on Nov 17 last year.

While dismissing Safia Bano’s appeal against the Aug 23 decision of the Lahore High Court’s Multan bench upholding the death sentence awarded to Imdad by a trial court, the Supreme Court had ruled that schizophrenia was “not a permanent mental disorder rather imbalance, increasing or decreasing depending upon the level of stress”.

The court had observed that in recent years the prognosis of ailments like schizophrenia had been improved with drugs by vigorous psychological and social managements and rehabilitation.

The apex court’s judgement drew criticism from civil society and sparked a debate whether or not mentally ill patients deserve to be hanged.

In its review petition, the Punjab government had pleaded that the apex court’s judgement had placed fetters on the definition of schizophrenia contrary to the universally accepted medical definition in terms of ‘mental disorder’ as envisaged by the Punjab Mental Health Ordinance 2001.

“Across medical jurisprudence, paranoid schizophrenia is classified as a chronic and permanent mental disorder affecting cognitive functions and with poor prognosis,” the petition said, adding that the patient’s jail medical records reflected that he had consistently displayed symptoms of schizophrenia and was not showing signs of improvement.

It argued that the apex court, while determining whether schizophrenia fell within the definition of ‘mental disorder’, had relied upon the Indian precedent and had not considered the circumstances for the purposes of the definition contained in the Mental Health Ordinance 2001.

The Indian Supreme Court’s order was not applicable to the instant set of circumstances and not relevant to the 2001 ordinance, the review petition said, adding that paranoid schizophrenia could not be excluded from the definition of ‘mental disorder’ as envisaged by the ordinance.

Moreover, Islamic Sharia prohibited the execution of a mentally challenged prisoner, the petition said, adding that this view was endorsed by Islamic jurisprudent Allama Ibne Abideen in his celebrated work — Radd al-Muhtar ala ad-Dur al Mukhtar.

On the other hand, Safia Bano argued that the medical records showed that her husband had consistently displayed symptoms of schizophrenia he was diagnosed in prison and, therefore, he was subject to the relevant procedures under the Pakistan Prison Rules 1978 that called for transfer of such patients to the mental hospital.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2016