Chisti's family celebrates apex court verdict

The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted 82-year-old Pakistani microbiologist Mohammed Khalil Chisti to return home temporarily.

The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted 82-year-old Pakistani microbiologist Mohammed Khalil Chisti to return home temporarily.

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Chisti, who is serving life term in a 20-year-old murder case, had come to Rajasthan to visit his ailing mother in 1992 when he got embroiled in a brawl and was held guilty for his neighbour's death.

Born in Ajmer to a family of caretakers of the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti shrine, Chisti was studying in Pakistan at the time of partition and had chosen to stay back.

After hearing about the verdict, Chisti said, "I am a heart patient and this excitement is not good for me but I will not let it affect my heart."

The first person Chisti wants to meet on his return to Pakistan is his elder brother. "I want to go and offer my 'salaam' to him."

In Ajmer, his younger brother Jamil and his family distributed sweets and congratulated each other.

The SC, however, imposed certain conditions on Chisti's Pakistan stay. Giving him the liberty to stay in Pakistan till October end, the court directed Chisti to deposit R5 lakh with the apex court registry within two weeks, and his passport at the Indian High Commission once he reached Pakistan.

The SC has set November 20 as the date of final hearing of his appeal.

Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari had taken up the issue of Chisti's release with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month during a meeting in New Delhi.