Type: Parliament Questions and Answers

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-

(a) the details of initiatives taken by the Government and Indian diplomats for the release of the innocent Sarabjit Singh who is languishing in a Pakistani jail;

(b) the reasons for him not being released from jail so far;

(c) whether the Government has intervened in the matter; and

(d) if so, the action plan for ensuring the release of the said individual?

ANSWER: THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS(SMT. PRENEET KAUR)

(a) to (d) Government has consistently urged the Government of Pakistan, on several occasions, to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view in the case of Shri Sarabjit Singh. 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.

According to available reports, Shri Sarabjit Singh is in Pakistani Jail since 30.08.1990. The Anti-Terrorism Court, Lahore awarded him capital punishment on 03.10.1991.The Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the sentence on 18.08.2005. A mercy petition to the President of Pakistan, filed in 2008, was dismissed on 19.02.2008. According to Shri Sarabjit Singh’s lawyer, Shri Sarabjit Singh alias Manjit Singh had filed a fresh mercy petition before the President of Pakistan on 19.02.2010. Another mercy petition was also filed by his lawyer before the President of Pakistan on 18.06.2010. According to the lawyer, the decision of the President of Pakistan on both of these petitions is still pending.

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Pakistan
South Asia