ISLAMABAD: After the government lifted a moratorium on executions, two men convicted of gang rape have approached the Supreme Court in a bid to halt the carrying out of the death sentences awarded to them, on the plea that they have already served out life sentences and cannot be punished for the same crime twice.

In a joint petition, moved through their counsel Mohammad Arshad Bhatti, the convicts maintain that it was not their fault if the death sentence awarded to them by an AntiTerrorism Court (ATC) under the Hudood Ordinance was not carried outoverthe past17years.

In the petition, Abid Maqsood and Sanaullah aka Billu ask the court `whether the delay in nonexecution of death sentence is on the part of the accused or on thepart of the executive.

Both Maqsood and Sanaullah were convicted and sentenced to death under Articles 10(4) and 11 of The Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance 1979 on June 24, 1998 by Special Court No H AntiTerrorism Act, Gujranwala (sic).

They faced the allegations of gang raping a young woman on Aug 28, 1997. Subsequently, they moved jail appeals, which were rejected by the Supreme Court on Sept 18 and 19, 2006.

Eventually, both men filed mercy pleas with the president and, according to the petition, their pleas are still pending before the head of state, even though they have served out life sentences.

Accused convicted in Hudood cases by special courts cannot be treated the same as convicts involved in anti-state activities, but sentenced by an anti-terrorism court or under anti-terrorist laws, the petition maintains.

Since they had already served a life sentence, spending 17 years in prison awaiting execution, the convicts contended that they could not be awarded yet another sentence, as stipulated in Article 13 of the Constitution, which deals with`Protection Against Double Punishment and Self-Incrimination`.

The petition also cites different decisions of the apex court, where it has already held that no person can be convicted twice.

The delay in carrying out the death sentence cannot deprive the petitioners from the benefits of Article 13, the petition states, adding that Article 45 of the Constitution vests the authority to grant pardon, reprieve and respite with the president. He can also remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or authority.

The petition recalls that mercy pleas before the president have been pending for many years now through nofault ofthe petitioners.

They maintain that the matter is of public importance, since many other accused like them have served out life terms in prison and are now liable for the execution as well.

Though the number of such prisoners has not been mentioned in their petition, the Supreme Court is currently hearing another petition filed by Barrister Zafarullah Khan, which cites an Amnesty International report and states that Pakistan has over 8,000 prisoners on death row.