The Supreme Court on Friday asked the central government to state its position on ailing Pakistani virologist Mohammad Khalil Chisty, who has sought permission to visit his country after being granted bail in a 20-year-old murder case in India.
The apex court bench headed by Justice P. Sathasivam impleaded the ministries of external affairs and home as party to 80-year-old Chisty's plea seeking directions to visit his home in Karachi.
The court impleaded the central government after the Rajasthan government said it had no role in Chisty's plea.
Chisty was awarded life imprisonment for the death of a person in a brawl when he was visiting Ajmer in 1992. He was last month granted bail by the apex court which had then asked him to make a separate plea for permission to visit Pakistan.
The court directed the hearing of the matter for Monday.