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

Islamabad--Adding to Sarabjit Singh's woes, Pakistan Supreme Court has 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 three bomb blasts in Lahore and Faisalabad following which President Pervez Musharraf has agreed to look into the mercy plea.

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

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 today 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 on Tuesday’s morning.