Law:

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ABDUL KARIM KHAN KUNDI, J; --This writ petition arises in the background of facts that by his judgment and order dated 5-12-1988 the Special Court constituted under the Special Courts for Speedy Trials Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) awarded death sentence on three counts to A the writ petitioner on the charges of the murder of Jarjais Khan, Wilayat Ali and Malik Ali Gauhar. It was ordered that the award of death sentences to the convict-petitioner shall be subject to confirmation by the Peshawar High Court, Peshawar.   By a general amnesty order dated 7-12-1988 the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was pleased to commute all death sentences awarded by the Military or other Courts up to 6th of December, 1988 to imprisonment for life and the writ petitioner was also benefited by the said general amnesty order and was accordingly taken out of the death cell and made to serve the sentences of life imprisonment as ordinary prisoner. He did B not avail a right of appeal in the first instance neither the Special Court made a reference for confirmation of his death sentences. It was sometime in April, 1991 that a letter emanated from the Interior Division, Government of Pakistan addressed to the Home Secretaries of the four provinces on the subject of clarification of certain issues arising out of the general amnesty order dated 7-12-1988 and it was stated that in view of the judgment of the Lahore High Court, Bahawalpur Bench dated 16-3-1991 in Criminal Appeal No. 26 of 1987 and Murder Reference No.4 of 1987 there emerged out a 3 correct legal position that the general amnesty order dated 7-12-1988 shall be applicable to those prisoners only whose death sentences had been already confirmed by the High Court by 6-12-1988, that in pursuance of the letter dated 9-4-1991 the writ petitioner was once again placed in death cell on 4-7-1991. Writ petitioner was prompted to file appeal against his conviction and sentences and also the instant writ petition. His Criminal Appeal was entertained although sufficiently time-barred due to the reason that he was misled by the judgment and order of the trial Court which awarded him the death sentences…