Overview
- A Supreme Court‑hosted national jail reforms conference produced the Islamabad Declaration, which four provincial chief ministers signed to commit to reducing overcrowding and strengthening bail, parole, probation and non‑custodial measures.
- Punjab has moved quickly to implement the pact with plans to raise capacity, build 27 new barracks, convert five major jails to solar power, launch biometric verification and a formal remission management system.
- Prosecutors returned the police challan in the Gul Plaza fire inquiry on grounds that the investigation was incomplete and omitted the judicial commission report and why emergency exits were locked, signalling further probes and legal oversight.
- Separate safety and enforcement actions include a Lahore survey that found 760 unregistered academies leading to registration and closure orders and an IG Punjab directive to tighten security for foreign nationals and accelerate deportations.
- Officials say prison capacity in Punjab was raised from about 30,000 to 39,000 while housing roughly 68,000–79,000 inmates with under‑trial prisoners near 73 percent, and provincial targets and monitoring plans through 2027 will determine whether conditions and legal backlogs improve.