Abu Dhabi: Ten young Indian workers in Al Ain jail, who were convicted of murdering a Pakistani worker, have to wait further for a court decision about a possible pardon for them.
The Al Ain Appeals Court on Wednesday adjourned the proceedings to April 19, a senior official at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi told Gulf News on Wednesday.
The court is expected to give its decision on the letter of consent submitted by the family of the Pakistani victim to pardon the accused Indians in the next hearing, said Dinesh Kumar, Counsellor, Community Affairs at the embassy. It was expected that death penalty could be commuted, Kumar had earlier said.
As Gulf News reported on March 27, the father of the victim had appeared in the court and submitted the letter of consent. On behalf of the accused, an Indian charity organisation had deposited Dh200,000 in blood money.
S.P.S. Oberoi, chairman of Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust that donated the blood money for the accused men, told Gulf News on Wednesday that the court proceeding was adjourned as two defence lawyers requested more time to make their required submissions.
He said his representative was present in the court on Wednesday. Eight of the ten lawyers made their submissions as part of the ongoing proceedings but two could not make it and asked for more time, Oberoi said. The court had appointed the lawyers to represent the accused who had sought the court’s help in this regard, he said.
As Gulf News reported on December 8, 2016, the murder allegedly occurred during a brawl over bootlegging in Al Ain in December 2015. Eleven men from the Indian state of Punjab were convicted in the case but one was spared the death sentence.
