IN A major blow to Sarabjit Singh, the Indian condemned to death for allegedly spying and carrying out four bomb blasts in Pakistan, the Supreme Court here on Thursday rejected his review petition.
Sarabjit's lawyer Rana Abdul Hameed said the court rejected the review petition with regard to the death sentence awarded to him in connection with the bomb blast at Yakkigate in Lahore in April 1990 in which three persons were killed. The court observed that the petition had been filed too late.
Another review petition in connection with three more bomb blasts in Pakistan's Punjab province in 1990 -- for which also Sarabjit has been awarded death sentence -- is still pending before the apex court. "We expect the court to deliver its order on the other petition in a week but we have no hope," Rana said.
"Now the only way out appears to be to file a mercy petition before (president) Pervez Musharraf seeking his pardon," Rana said, adding that Sarabjit has already given him permission to file the mercy petition. Rana said he will soon be drafting a mercy petition which would be submitted to Musharraf after the Supreme Court decides on the second review petition.
Sarabjit, who hails from Amritsar, is currently lodged in the high-security Kot Lakhpath jail near Lahore. According to Rana, Sarabjit was caught by the Pakistani police when he "inadvertently" crossed the border and was later implicated in the bomb blast case.
{{/usCountry}}Sarabjit, who hails from Amritsar, is currently lodged in the high-security Kot Lakhpath jail near Lahore. According to Rana, Sarabjit was caught by the Pakistani police when he "inadvertently" crossed the border and was later implicated in the bomb blast case.
{{/usCountry}}Pakistan's Supreme Court had on August 18 last year, upheld the death sentence given to Sarabjit for allegedly carrying out three bomb blasts in Lahore and Faislabad in 1990, triggering an uproar in India against the verdict. Following this, Musharraf had promised to look into his mercy plea. His death sentence in the Yakkigate bomb blast case was also upheld by the Supreme Court on Sept. 27 last year.