High court directive raises family’s hope of getting Kuldeep Yadav, a suspected Indian spy in Pak jail, back home
The story of Sarabjit Singh — who died in April 2013 after spending over two decades in Pakistan jail on charges of spying and terrorism — is known to everyone.
Like Singh, there are many others who are still languishing behind bars for ages with justice being just another word in the dictionary, if not an illusion.
One of them is Kuldeep Yadav — a resident of Ahmedabad — who has been lodged in a Pakistan jail in Lahore since 1996. He was arrested by the Pak authorities in 1994 and convicted and sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment on charges of spying.
With around 18 years of imprisonment, Kuldeep’s family has been running from pillar to post to get him back to India. And, their efforts bore fruit on Wednesday as in a landmark judgment, Gujarat high court directed the ministry of external affairs to take necessary diplomatic steps to bring Kuldeep back.
His possible home coming has similarities with Gopal Das — sentenced for life after his arrest on espionage charges. Das was released two months after Supreme Court’s verdict that requested Pakistan to remit his sentence following which Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari sanctioned his release.
If all goes well and Kuldeep is released, the happiest person would be his youngest sister Rekha. “She is now 39 and decided not to marry until she gets to see her elder brother. She is elated with the news,” said Dilip Yadav, Kuldeep’s younger brother.
A Gujarat high court bench of Justice Ravi R Tripathi and Justice Mohinder Pal, while pronouncing the judgment, recorded a 2011 Supreme Court verdict of Das’s case. “The facts of the case before the apex court were if not identical then certainly similar to the facts of the case before us. It may not be possible for this court to articulate the judgment and order in better terms than that of the apex court,” the court pronounced on Wednesday.
Quoting from the Supreme Court judgement, the bench said, “We request the Pakistani authorities to consider the appeal of the petitioner for remitting the remaining period of sentence and release him in the same spirit.” The court directed additional solicitor general of India to communicate this order to the Pakistan High Commissioner in India, who is requested to communicate it to the concerned authorities.
Kuldeep’s mother Mayadevi filed the petition for his release through advocate Kishor Paul in 2007. In 2012, while the case was being heard Mayadevi died and as a special relief, the high court directed the central government to pay Rs5 lakh as compensation to the family members.
The 50-year-old Kuldeep has completed 18 years in jail, and if he completes his full sentence, he would be released in 2021.
As per the procedure, there is a committee between two rival countries that looks into cases that need intervention on humanitarian grounds. Kuldeep’s case will go through the committee though additional solicitor general, ministry of external affairs and high commissioner of Pakistan. And everyone is keeping their fingers crossed!
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