India seeks clemency for death row prisoner

New Delhi—Amid demands that Sarabjit Singh be saved from the gallows in Pakistan, New Delhi Tuesday asked Islamabad to grant clemency to the Indian national on humanitarian grounds.
Making a Suo Motu statement in the Lok Sabha in the wake of media reports that ‘death warrant’ has been issued against Sarabjit Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government has no formal intimation from the Pakistan government about it and New Delhi has sought details from Islamabad in this regard, reports PTI.
“According to press reports, the black warrant has been issued and the sentence will be carried out on April one,” Mukherjee said about Sarabjit, who is facing death sentence for allegedly carrying out bomb blasts in Pakistan in 1990. “Our High Commission in Islamabad has sought details from the Government of Pakistan (about reports of black warrant against Sarabjit),” he said. Noting that India and Pakistan had put in place certain institutional arrangements to improve the situation of prisoners of the respective countries.—Agencies