Death sentence to 17 Indians challanged before Higher Court

An appeal was filed on Thursday on behalf of the 17 Indians who were recently found guilty by a Sharjah court of killing a Pakistani national and injuring three of his compatriots. The appeal was filed in a Sharjah Court of Appeals, India's Consul-General Sanjay Verma has said.

The Consulate had earlier said that they have hired a Dubai-based law firm, Mohamed Salman Advocates and Legal Consultants, to represent the Indians. Consulate officials had met all 17 Indians earlier this week and said that they were in good health. The convicted, 16 from the Punjab and one from Haryana, were recently found guilty by the Sharjah Court of killing a Pakistani national and injuring three of his compatriots allegedly during a clash in an illegal alcohol business in January 2009.  About 50 people were involved in the attack, in which the Pakistani man was beaten to death with metal bars. The men on death row are accused of being the gang leaders.

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Indian Govt. hired top lawyer in Dubai to file an appeal

The Centre has hired a top lawyer in Dubai to file an appeal against the death sentence to 17 Indians, minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur said on Monday. She assured a delegation of families of the convicts here that the government would do its best to ensure justice in the matter.

Preneet Kaur said the Indian consulate in Dubai had been sounded on the matter. The families interested in visiting their wards in Dubai would be granted visa relaxation, she said.

Sukhwinder Kaur, whose son Taranjeet (23) is among the 17 convicts, said the minister had assured them that special secretary, foreign affairs, would be sent to UAE to meet the convicts. “The government is making all efforts to help us,” she said.

Her son left for Dubai around one-and-a-half years back. “We only knew that Taranjeet was arrested on suspicion. Now he is facing death,” she said. Parminder Kaur, whose husband, Kashmir Singh, figures in the list of the 17 convicts, said they were shattered with the harsh sentence.

“We are exploring all options to save them and that’s why we met the minister. I am satisfied with the outcome of the meeting,” she said. Meanwhile, prayer meetings were held in Ludhiana and Jalandhar for the convicts’ well-being.

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Appeal against the death sentence to 17 Indians

The Indian Consulate in Dubai, in collaboration with Indian Association Sharjah an apex body of Indian welfare organisations will file an appeal within the next three days in the Sharjah Estinaf Court against the death sentence handed over to 17 Indians by a sharia court. The appeal process will be filed through Indian lawyers practising in the UAE.

Hashik PK, an Indian advocate closely associated with the appeals process, expressed confidence in saving the convicts from the gallows. “I am sure we can save our people. As some of the convicts had already confessed to the crime in the sharia court, we can get the death sentence converted to life imprisonment or even less. In the Estinaf Court, which is equal to our High Courts in India, the matter will be governed under criminal laws,” Hashik said over the phone.

“The death sentence was delivered by a religious court. In the appeal court, the rules are different. We will appeal the matter on question of fact and law, arguing that the incident was not at all a ‘rarest of rare’ case. Moreover, now we came to know that some of the persons had confessed. It is a mystery as to how a person who confesses can be given the death sentence. We will raise all these matters in the appeals process,” he added.

Explaining the legal process in Sharjah, Hashik said Estinaf Court judgements could be challenged in the Thamis Court, equivalent to a Supreme Court. “Only after the final legal battle and at the execution stage of the final verdict can the diplomatic channel act. Otherwise, it will be contempt of court. The diplomatic channel is out of the court’s purview and our Government has to appeal to the Ruler of Sharjah for the release of our citizens,” the advocate explained.

Describing the details of sharia laws, the advocate said the murdered Pakistani’s immediate relatives could also pardon the convicts with or without accepting “blood money”, which is considered a fine.

Indian Association Sharjah president YA Rahim, who is currently in India on vacation, also confirmed the developments in the appeals process. Rahim, who too is an advocate, squarely blamed the Indian Consulate for making things worse by not intervening when the Indians were jailed 15 months ago.

“These 17 persons were arrested on January 2009 and were in jail from day one. For the past 15 months, nobody from the consulate turned up. It was the duty of the Indian Consulate to intervene and provide legal assistance to them. The officials have started to act now, when things have gone out of control. Apart from Sharjah police, who informed them within 48 hours of the incident, we also informed them of the arrests. Moreover, this incident was widely reported in the media but nothing happened,” Rahim told The Pioneer.

The consulate failed to provide advocates and interpreters for the convicts in the trial stages. They were defended by a Government pleader provided by the court, where the proceedings were in the Arabic language, he pointed out.

Seventeen Indians 16 from Punjab and one from Haryana were awarded death on March 28 by the Sharjah sharia court for a street battle between bootleggers for supremacy in the area, leading to the murder of a Pakistani national. Nearly 70 Indians were arrested from the spot, but the others were let off from prison later.

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