' ASIF SAEED KHAN KHOSA, J.-Through the present appeal the appellants who are undergoing various sentences after having been convicted in case F.I.R. No,277 of 1991 registered at Police Station A-Division, Rahimyar Khan have approached this Court seeking extension of the benefit of the remissions allowed to prisoners/convicts by the Government through Notifications, dated 16-1- 1999, 31-5-1999 and 5-1-2000. The comments submitted by respondent No,1 before this Court show that the said remissions were being refused to the present appellants because the case against them was one of dacoit which category had been expressly excluded for the purposes of extension of the said remissions.
2. We have gone through the record of this case and have found that the appellants were never convicted for an offence of dacoit whereas, apart from the other offences committed by them, they had in fact been convicted for an offence under section 394, P.P.C. Which pertains to voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery. It goes without saying that offences of robbery and dacoit are quite distinct from each other carrying different sentences and having different constituting ingredients therefor. It appears that the said distinction has not been borne in mind by respondent No,1 while interpreting the said notifications regarding remissions. We are of the opinion that the categories of cases excluded from extension of the said remissions have nexus with the gravity of the said offenses. It goes without saying that an offence of dacoit is surely a graver offence than an offence of robbery. It, therefore, has appeared to us that it was the graver offence, i,e, dacoit which was excluded by the Government for the purposes of the said remissions and the offence of robbery was included for the purposes of extension of the said remissions. The learned Assistant Advocate-General has also agreed with us regarding this interpretation of the said Notifications.
3. In view of what has been observed above this Intra-Court Appeal is allowed, the impugned order passed by the learned Judge-in-Chamber on 22-11-1999 in Writ Petition No, 3886 of 1999 is set aside and, while allowing the said writ petition, respondent No,1 is directed to extends the benefit of the abovementioned Notification regarding remissions to the present appellants. There shall be no order as to costs.
I.C.A. Allowed.