New Delhi: Government on Friday said it has been consistently asking Pakistan to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner on death row in that country since 1991 after being convicted by an anti-terrorist court in Lahore. Making the point in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha raised by LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said two mercy petitions filed by Sarabjit and his lawyers are pending before the President of Pakistan.
"The decision of the President of Pakistan on both these petitions is still pending," the Minister said in a written reply.
"According to available reports, Sarabjit Singh is in Pakistani jail since August 1990. The Anti-Terrorist Court, Lahore awarded him capital punishment in 1991, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the sentence in 2005," Ahamed told the House.
A mercy petition to the President of Pakistan was filed by Sarabjit Singh in 2008 but it was dismissed following which a fresh application was made in February 2010, Ahamed said. "According to Sarabjit Singh and his lawyer, in a case of mistaken identity, he was reportedly convicted for the crimes committed by one Manjit Singh," Ahamed said.
On assurances given by Pakistan in this regard, the Minister said, "Prime Minister was assured by President Musharraf during their meeting in New York in 2005 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that he would look at the question of clemency to Sarabjit Singh in a humanitarian way."
Sarabjit was convicted by an anti-terrorist court for his involvement in bomb blasts in Lahore.
PTI