NEW DELHI: An appeal that was admitted by Qatar’s Court of First Instance to review the capital punishment it awarded to eight Indian naval veterans, will ensure that the Indian government will be kept in the loop on any action that could be taken against them.
“The appeal that was accepted on November 23 ensures that Qatar will not exercise death penalty on these eight Indian veterans without informing the Indian government. This is being viewed as a positive development,’’ a source said.
The Qatar court had on October 26 awarded death penalty to the naval veterans. India’s defence team is headed by a very senior lawyer. He is a former attorney general of Qatar and is doing whatever he can to repatriate these naval veterans. However, the veterans generally get to meet him in only in court during the day of the hearing.
“The eight naval veterans have little knowledge of what the hearings entail and often ask their family members (during their weekly phone calls they make back home) on whether any date has been earmarked for the penalty. At least now there will be some respite for the families and the veterans,’’ the source said.
The next hearing of the case is due this week. The eight veterans are Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Capt Navtej Singh Gill, Capt Birendra Kumar Verma, Capt Saurabh Vasisht and sailor Ragesh.