India will fight legal battle to bring back its 8 nationals from Qatar: BJP

PTI, New Delhi, Oct 27, 2023 : India will fight a legal battle to bring back all eight former Indian Navy personnel who have been handed down death sentence by a court in Qatar, the BJP said on Friday.

Replying to a related question at a press conference here at the party headquarters, BJP national spokesperson Ajay Alok said the Ministry of External Affairs is already looking into the matter.

“And, India has duly placed its stand also on the issue,” he told reporters.

“We are surprised to see that such things also happen. We will fight a legal battle in this matter. The international court of justice is there. I think government of India will place its stand and we will definitely succeed in bringing them back from there,” Alok added.

The eight former Indian Navy personnel were on Thursday handed down death sentence by a court in Qatar, a verdict that was described as “deeply shocking” by India as it vowed to explore all legal options in the case.

The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.

“We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving eight Indian employees of Al Dahra company,” the MEA said on Thursday.

“We are deeply shocked by the verdict of death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgement. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options,” it said.

The MEA said it will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance to the Indians.

“We attach high importance to this case, and have been following it closely. We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with Qatari authorities,” it said in a statement.