Congress MP Manish Tewari calls for Adjournment of Parliament to discuss imprisonment of Retired Indian Navy personnel in Qatar
Dec 06, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 6 : Congress Member of Parliament Manish Tewari has given notice of his intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance, namely, the imprisonment of retired Indian navy personnel in Qatar.
"That this House do suspend Zero Hour, Question Hour, and other Businesses of the Day to have a discussion regarding the retired-Indian navy personnel imprisoned in Qatar. Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh, were sentenced by the Qatari court on October 26, 2023, " read the letter from the Congress MP.
In a letter to the Secretary-General of Lok Sabha, Tewari stated that the eight retired navy personnel were sentenced to death by the Qatari court on October 26, 2023. He further stated that he has been constantly raising this matter since August 2022 both inside and outside the House but the response of the Government has been - NO RESPONSE for -14 months.
Tewari also alleged that the eight navy personnel have been brutally tortured, self-incriminating confessions extracted, and sentenced to death in a Kangaroo Trail in a couple of perfunctory hearings. He further stated that the Government has not even called in the Qatari Ambassador to protest the matter strongly.
Tewari urged the government to inform the House of the situation about the navy personnel in Qatar and the steps taken to bring them back to India.
The eight former naval personnel were sentenced to death by the Court of First Instance of Qatar.
The Court of First Instance of Qatar recently passed a verdict of death penalty for eight former naval officers who were detained in Doha, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
The eight former Indian Navy personnel were employees of Dahra Global, a Doha-based private defence services provider. They were arrested in August 2022 for alleged espionage. India called the ruling 'deeply shocking' and deployed all diplomatic channels to engage with Qatar on this case.
"The eight former Indian Navy personnel were employees of Dahra Global, a Doha-based private defence services provider. They were arrested in August 2022 for alleged espionage," the Ministry of External Affairs said.
In November, the Qatari court had accepted the appeal document on the sentencing of eight former Indian naval personnel to death. An appeal was filed by India against the death penalty awarded to the eight Indian ex-Navy personnel in Qatar. India had been given a round of consular access to the detainees on November 7.
The Qatar court judgment remains confidential, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also met the family members of the eight naval personnel, assuring them of full government support. New Delhi had been granted consular access to the eight Indians and had been working to secure their release. The Indian nationals had their first trial in late March.
