India-Pakistan Joint Committee to visit jails to meet Pakistani inmates

The India-Pakistan Joint Judicial Committee of Prisoners is expected to visit Tihar, Jaipur and Amritsar jails later this month to meet the Pakistani inmates and discuss ways to expedite their release.

The eight-member team of retired Judges -- four from each country -- will meet Pakistani civilian prisoners languishing in Indian jails and look into their conditions and prison records and see whether their release could be expedited, official sources said.

The Committee formed in January 2007 had visited Pakistani jails in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi during their five-day tour in April this year.

During the visit to Pakistani jails, the Committee looked into the cases where the prisoners' condition demanded their immediate release. The team also looked into prison records to ascertain the facts of each case.

Every year, hundreds of citizens, including fishermen, are arrested by security forces of both countries and imprisoned for straying across territorial waters and land borders.