Islamabad, The Supreme Court asked the ministries of interior and foreign affairs on Monday to answer contentions highlighted in a petition filed to press for the early release of Dr Saiyyad Mohammad Khaleel Chishty, an educationist and scientist languishing in a jail in India’s Ajmer district.

The petition filed by eminent lawyer Syed Iqbal Haider on behalf of Dr Chishty’s daughter Shoa Jawaid, the All Pakistan Women’s Association (Apwa) and the Legal Aid Call Centre (LACC) requested the court to ask the government to make diplomatic efforts for the release and repatriation of Dr Chishty on humanitarian grounds.

Dr Chishty, 78, did his PhD from Edinburg University in Scotland. He also holds a degree in biology from the London University. He has served as a professor in universities in Karachi, Jeddah, Nigeria and Iran.

After hearing Iqbal Haider for some time, a bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Mohammad Sair Ali decided to accept the petition for hearing and issued notices to the secretaries for interior and foreign affairs for June 15.

The petition also requested the Supreme Court to graciously consider making a request to the Indian president and prime minister and governor of Rajasthan to order the release and repatriation of Dr Chishty after remitting his sentence, like the apex court of India had requested the president of Pakistan for the release of Indian national Gopal Dass, who was consequently repatriated to India.

Dr Chishty had gone to see his ailing mother in India in 1992, but was implicated in a murder case. In December last year he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the district court of the special judge (SC/ST).