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Indian Supreme Court has asked the government to release 16 Pakistanis who have finished their terms in Indian jail immediately rather than waiting for a swap with Pakistan for Indian prisoners, China’s Xinhua news agency cited the local daily The Times of India as saying.

A Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and R. M. Lodha said right to life had primacy in a country governed by rule of law and was not dependent on another country’s action, said the newspaper.

It refused to accept the government’s stand that exchange of prisoners was a diplomatic process that required cooperation at both ends.

This followed a petition filed by Kashmiri Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh and advocate B. S. Billowriya that over 30 Pakistanis were illegally detained in prisons in India, despite completion of their sentences.

India said it is waiting for response from Pakistan on holding a meeting on the issue of prisoners of the two countries jailed in each other’s prisons.