'Sarabjit's pardon depends on victims' families'

Describing the Sarabjit Singh issue as a "test case", Pakistan on Tuesday said the Indian national sentenced to death in there can be "pardoned" if the family members of those killed in the 1990 bomb blasts desire so.

"Pardon is there. I feel, in Islamic law, there is a lot of scope if the pardon is given by the family members (of those killed in the blasts)," Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told Aaj Tak news channel.

Also Read Don't hang Sarabjit: Pakistan leader Sarabjit's wife seeks presidential pardon

"This will itself become a test case in Pakistan," he said as he noted that commutation of a sentence given after prolonged trial happens rarely. He said there are two legal views to the Sarabjit case.

As per one of these, the mercy petition will go to the President and according to the other; death sentence can be commuted to life sentence for which the "relatives" of those killed should give pardon.

Referring to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's comment on clemency, Kasuri said, "He did not give a direct reply. He said I am a man of mercy."

The Foreign Minister said the families of those killed in the 1990 blasts had recently created uproar in Pakistan over the demands for clemency to Sarabjit.