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NEW DELHI: The Indian Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to 80-year-old Pakistani microbiologist Khalil Chisti, Indian media reported on Monday.**
According to the Times of India website, the SC has granted interim bail to the Pakistani microbiologist, upholding an earlier verdict of a life term issued by a Rajasthan court.
Dr Chishti, who had gone to India in 1992 to see his ailing mother, was implicated in a murder case.
The court has directed Chishti to remain in Ajmer till further orders.
In its orders on Monday, the Indian apex court has also asked him to surrender his passport and allowed him to file a fresh application.
The Pakistani microbiologist had requested bail on the grounds that he was an octogenarian and had already been in jail for 20 years.
Dr Chisti had pleaded to the courts that he be allowed to return to Karachi or be allowed to reside in Delhi.
The issue of Dr Khalil Chisti’s imprisonment had come up during the lunch hosted by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, the Indian newspaper quoted sources as saying.
Indian media further reports that Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik had also referred to the issue during his interaction with his Indian counterpart, P Chidambaram.
Dr Chishti is a virologist holding a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and has worked in different parts of the world.
While visiting his mother in 1992, the Karachi-based microbiologist was present at his brother’s house in Rajasthan’s Ajmer city when an altercation, motivated by a family feud, occurred.
A local man was killed in the quarrel and, according to the family, Chishti was falsely implicated in the case because of being a Pakistani.
Is it because of Zardari’s visit to Ajmer?but whtever the case is its a good news …
on the other hand…
Mehbooh Ilahi, a former Indian spy, who had spent some time with President Asif Ali Zardari, as an inmate at Karachi Central Jail, showed keen interest in meeting the Pakistani president during his visit to India, according to a news report published in The Hindu.
According toThe Hindu, Ilahi aimed to meet President Zardari, in order to highlight the predicaments and plights of prisoners of war who live in inhumane conditions in the prisons of both the countries.
The report also cites that Ilahi had written to Shahid Malik, Pakistan High Commissioner in India, and President Pratibha Patil requesting both the officials to assist him in seeking appointment with President Zardari.
Ilahi is a 52-year-old man who has spent over 20 years in various Pakistani jails since 1977, after he was accused of spying for India in Pakistan. He claims to have stayed with the president of Pakistan for two to three months in Karachi.
Ilahi recalls the magnanimity of various Pakistani leaders including the president who offered him coffee and other eatables.
Ilahi wants to direct President Zardari’s attention towards different prisoners of war who have completed their term in the jail however have not yet been released. He requests the president to expedite their release.