Pak SC upholds Sarabjit's death sentence in fourth blast case

Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence given to him in another bomb blast case in Lahore in 1990.

The apex Court verdict came even as there was an uproar in India against the death sentence given to him in 3 bomb blasts in Lahore and Faisalabad following which President Pervez Musharraf has agreed to look into the mercy plea.

The Supreme Court had on August 18 upheld the death sentence given to Singh, for allegedly carrying out 3 bomb blasts in Lahore and Faisalabad in 1990.

Complete Coverage: Sarabjit saga

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his meeting with Musharraf in New York recently, had raised the issue and the
Pakistani President had said he was a "man of compassion" and would go into legal aspects of the case before taking a
decision on mercy plea.

The Apex Court on Monday upheld the death sentence given to Singh, whom Pakistan believed was Manjit Singh and accused him of being an Indian spy.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar heard the appeal from Singh's lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid in connection with the fourth bomb blast case at Yakki Gate in Lahore in July 1990 and dismissed the petition saying, the appeal came after the 60 days mandatory period in which the defendent had to file the appeal before the Supreme Court.

"The case was dismissed on the grounds that it was timed-out and on grounds of merits," Hamid told reporters at
Pakistan's Supreme Court.

Complete Coverage: Sarabjit saga

Defending the petition, Singh's lawyer Hamid said he tried to impress upon the court that the prosecution was confused between Manjit Singh and Sarabjit Singh, who are different persons.

"It is a case of misplaced identification," he said.

He added that he had urged the bench to pass on the case to another bench which earlier heard the other 3 cases.

Hamid also questioned the prosecution's evidence, saying that it was flawed in many ways. However, after a brief hearing the court dismissed the case.

Hamid said he is filing a review petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, urging it to reconsider the death sentence it upheld against Singh in earlier three cases.