HARIPUR: A total of 512 inmates of the Haripur Central Prison, including five women and two juvenile persons, were granted 60 days special remission of their sentences by the chief minister on the occasion of Eidul Fitr, said prison superintendent Hamid Azam on Friday.

Mr Azam, however, said none of those prisoners were freed as their prison terms remained even after the grant of 60 days sentence reduction.

He told reporters here that the inmates would be released after they served their remaining time behind bars.

Meanwhile, district and sessions judge Jehanzeb Khan Shinwari held a camp court in the jail on Friday and decided the cases of 13 prisoners held on the recovery of a small amount of charas or under Section 107 of Pakistan Penal Code.

However, they will be freed after serving remaining jail term

He said 12 of the 13 ‘beneficiaries’ of the camp court were freed, while the release of the remaining one was delayed for one day due to a ‘technical issue in his jail records’.

Accompanied by additional district judge Islamuddin and judicial magistrate Arshad Ali, the district judge also visited jail langarkhana (soup kitchen) and barracks and asked inmates about their problems.

He expressed satisfaction with the facilities provided to prisoners, especially food and education.

Later, the jail administration, in a first, hosted an Iftar dinner for prisoners.

VC SUMMONED: The KP Governor’s Secretariat summoned the registrar of the University of Haripur to the Governor’s House in Peshawar with complete records on May 12 over the alleged administrative irregularities.

A letter issued by section officer Asif Iqbal of the Governor’s Secretariat revealed that the May 12 meeting would take place with the principal secretary to the governor in the chair to discuss ‘irregularities in the University of Haripur during the period of acting VC Dr Ayub Khan’.

Also, the registrar’s office submitted a detailed report on the matter to the director (coordination) at the Higher Education Commission after formally receiving instructions to send ‘para-wise reply to the allegations of irregularities against the acting VC’.

Over a dozen administration officers and departmental chairmen in the university recently wrote to the governor, CM and other authorities alleging anomalies in administrative affairs by the acting VC, who is set to retire on June 23 this year.

They demanded that the government step in to declare the acting VC’s decision to advertise different positions and reinstate three employees null and void.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2022