The ex-Navy officers were given 60 days to appeal against the sentence

- Case of 8 ex-officers of Indian Navy

- Eight Indians likely to be pardoned after Qatar Supreme Court verdict

New Delhi: The death sentence of 8 ex-Indian Navy officers arrested on espionage charges in Qatar has been commuted. Now these Indian citizens have been given 60 days time to appeal against the sentence passed by the Qatari court, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

The Court of Appeal in Qatar on December 28 quashed the death sentence of eight former Indian Navy officers and sentenced them to different terms of imprisonment. These officers were sentenced to death by a Qatari court in October.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the legal team of Indian Citizens has received a copy of the court order.

Now the Supreme Court of Qatar has been given 60 days time to appeal against the order of the Court of Appeal.

There have been six hearings of the appeal in the Qatari court so far. Three of the hearings were appealed to the Court while the other three were appealed to the lower courts.

Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is second only to the King of Qatar, is likely to pardon all the accused. But Amir Tamim bin Hamad can grant amnesty only after Supreme Court's verdict. Family members of one in eight Indian citizens said it is likely to take more than three months to file the amnesty petition.