Former Indian Navy personnel get 60 days to appeal against jail terms in Qatar

Qatar has commuted death sentence for eight former Indian Navy officials and turned that into “varying quantum” of jail terms, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday, putting out the official confirmation about the high-profile case regarding the men who were arrested by the Gulf country in August 2022. Addressing the weekly press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the legal team had been given 60 days to appeal against the jail terms.

“On December 28, the Court of Appeal in Qatar gave a verdict in which the death sentence was commuted and replaced with varying quantum of jail terms. Our legal team has received the copy of the court’s order, which is a confidential document. But I can confirm that the death sentence has been removed,” said Mr. Jaiswal.

The case involving the eight Indian former Navy personnel came to prominence because of strict secrecy that both Qatar and India have maintained regarding the proceedings that took place over the past several months. India was “deeply shocked” when a trial court in Qatar handed death sentence to the accused on October 26. In the meanwhile, officials here informed that the Indian Embassy in Qatar had got consular access to the men in custody.