Indian Express

Ajmal Kasab: No parallel with India's Sarabjit Singh, Katju tells Pak

Express news service Posted online: Thu Nov 22 2012, 02:12 hrs
New Delhi : Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju (retd) on Wednesday wrote to the Pakistan government to pardon death row convict Sarabjit Singh. In a letter to Pakistan High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir, Katju said it would be wrong to compare the cases of Singh and Kasab. Singh has been on death row in Pakistan for 21 years in connection with a bomb blast in Lahore in 1990.

“About Kasab there is no doubt about guilt, as he was caught red-handed. However, there is grave doubt about the guilt of Singh. So the two cases are not similar. No doubt your courts have convicted Sarabjit, but I have carefully perused the evidence in his case and have found serious flaws in the prosecution version. His name was not even in the FIR...”

Pointing out that he had sought pardon for Singh in four previous letters too, Katju asked Pakistan to “show mercy and excercise power of pardon in his case”.