India “Shocked” at Qatar Court Awarding Death Penalty to 8 Ex-Indian Navy Officials for Alleged Spying
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 26: India has expressed shock and has promised to take up with the Qatar government authorities after eight former officers of the Indian Navy, who are currently detained in in the Gulf country, were handed death penalty by a court in Qatar on charges of spying for Israel, sources said.
Reacting to the verdict, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was “deeply shocked” and is “awaiting detailed judgement. We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving 8 Indian employees of Al Dahra company,” the MEA said in a statement.
“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,” the Ministry added.
“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,” the MEA statement said, adding, “due to the confidential nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture”.
The former Indian Navy officers — 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 arrested by Qatari intelligence service from Doha on August 30, 2022. The charges against them were not made public by Qatari authorities.
The men, including decorated officers who once commanded major Indian warships, were working for Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a private firm that provided training and related services to Qatar’s armed forces. Sources said some of them were working on a highly sensitive project — Italian technology-based midget submarines with stealth characteristics.
The men have been in jail since August 2022. Granted consular access to them, New Delhi has been working to secure their release. The men went to trial in March. Their bail pleas were rejected numerous times and their detention extended by Qatari authorities. On Thursday, the Court of First Instance of Qatar passed a judgement.
Meetu Bhargava, sister of one the former officers detained, had sought help from the government to bring her brother back. In a post on X on June 8, she had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene.
“These Ex Navy officers are the pride of the nation & again I request our Hon’ble Prime Minister with folded hands that it is high time that they all are brought back to India immediately without any further delay,” read her post, tagged to PM Modi and union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh.
During the trial of the case, India had refused to “put pressure” or interfere but had said it was keeping a “close watch”, on the Qatari legal process underway for the eight detained former Indian Navy personnel in the Gulf country. Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi had said in June that the hearing in the case has commenced and that India has asked for another round of consular access to the men.
“As regards…Jairam Ramesh-ji’s comment, I usually do not comment on that. We should put pressure on Qatar, you said? I am very worried to take that route. If I were to extrapolate that, it would be as if, if a country has good relations with India, their nationals would not be subject to our laws. I don’t think that’s the line that we want to take,” Mr Bagchi said in response to a question, adding, “I don’t think good relations would come in the way of legal process.” The answer follows a hard-hitting statement by the Congress on Thursday asking the Centre to explain to the “families and the people of India” why Qatar has been holding eight former Indian Navy personnel in its custody for eight months.
“Is the Prime Minister reluctant to put pressure on Qatar because its sovereign wealth fund is a major investor in Adani Electricity in Mumbai? Is that why the relatives of the imprisoned ex-Naval personnel are running from pillar to post for answers? Given the time elapsed, the Congress party urges the government to explain to the families and the people of India why our ex-servicemen are being treated in this manner,” Congress’ communications chief Jairam Ramesh said.
Mr Ramesh had drawn attention to the fact that the Modi government had “invested greatly in the India-Qatar relationship” and that both External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval have visited Qatar multiple times over the past few years, and asked, “Why is the Indian Government still unable to either ascertain the facts of the case or to reassure the ex-Naval personnel and their families that justice will be done?”
Mr. Bagchi had presented a factual situation of the case and had claimed then: “We understand the case has been referred to the court by the public prosecution. The first hearing was held on the 29th of March, which was also attended by the defence lawyer appointed for the case as well as by our officials. Our embassy continues to remain in touch with the families of the detained Indian nationals and also extending necessary consular as well as legal assistance. We have also requested for another round of consular access. Government attaches high priority to the matter and remains engaged with the Qatari authorities regarding the case. I don’t think the charges have yet been opened. The legal process is underway and we will keep a close watch on that.”
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