The Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chuadhry on Tuesday issued a notice to federal government for August 2 on application filed by advocate Awais Sheikh praying to suspend the execution of death sentence on Indian spy Sarbajit Singh.
The applicant sought court’s permission to become party in a petition against possible presidential pardon to Sarbajit, on a death row for killing 14 Pakistanis in the 1990 serial bomb blasts. The petition was filed by advocate Rana Ilamuddin Ghazi to which federal government had been directed to file a reply. Awais said he was Sarbajit’s counsel and had proofs of his innocence.
He said an appeal against Sarabjit’s conviction had been submitted to the president therefore the execution of death sentence must be suspended till the final decision. Ghazi submitted that Sarbajit was awarded a death sentence by the trail courts while the LHC and the Supreme Court had rejected his appeals.
He said Sarbajit’s sister Dalbir Kaur recently visited Pakistan and requested the president to convert his death sentence into life imprisonment and release him from jail but the President could not exercise his power under Article 45 of the constitution without the consent of legal heirs of those killed in the bomb blasts.
