PESHAWAR, May 12: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday dismissed appeals of five convicted prisoners undergoing imprisonment due to non-payment of Diyat money. They have served the jail term, but according to law, they will remain in prison until the payment of Diyat to the legal heirs of the killed people.

Their appeal was dismissed as the legal heirs of the victims did not agree to their release on bail unless they paid the compensation. The prisoners are Awal Khan, Khwaja Muhammad, Fazal Diyar, Azizullah and Ameerzada.

Seventeen prisoners had sent an application to the Chief Justice last year, stating that they had served their jail term and as they had no means to pay the Diyat money, they would continue to remain in the prison. The application was converted into an appeal.

A two-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Ijazul Hassan, decided to deal their cases on individual basis.

The bench granted bail to Khani Zaman for three years and directed him to pay the Diyat money during this period. He would be imprisoned again in the event of failing to make payment.

Khani Zaman had killed his father-in-law Sher Dil, who was also his uncle. He was sentenced to 14-year rigorous imprisonment and had to pay Diyat of Rs250,000. The widow of Sher Dil, and her children, stated before the court that they had no objection if the prisoner was released.

“The wife of Khani Zaman and his four children have been living with us, which was extra burden on our family,” the woman said. She added that they were poor people and could not afford the continuous imprisonment of Khani Zaman.

In one of the cases, the father of prisoner Mohammad Kamal stated that they had no money to pay to the legal heirs of the deceased. He asked the court for mercy on his family.

Justice Tariq Pervez observed that they could not change the law. “When the law of Qisas and Diyat does not empower us how could we order his release without the consent of the opposite party,” Justice Tariq observed. The court fixed June 7 for next hearing and summoned the children of the deceased.

The bench asked Additional Advocate-General Pir Liaqat why the provincial government had not been helping these prisoners. “The government would need to pay only Rs4 million to release these 16 prisoners,” Justice Tariq observed adding that “instead of purchasing a Pajero, the money could be spent on releasing the prisoners.”