Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The Supreme Court on Monday ordered to constitute a larger bench to determine the exact length for a life sentence.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa took notice of the issue while hearing a petition filed by Haroon-ul-Rashid, who was sentenced to life imprisonment 12 times in 12 different cases of murder, to reduce a convict's life sentence into half.
"Is it not a misconception that a life sentence spans over 25 years?" CJP Khosa asked and added, "When we don't know how long a person is going to live, how can we halve a life sentence."
The apex court issued notices to the attorney general, provincial advocate generals and prosecutor general and ordered the registrar office to fix the matter for hearing in the first week of October.
Rashid has been in jail since 1997 and has served a 22-year sentence.