Sarabjit8217;s counsel to submit mercy plea signed by 100,000

8220;The signatories include former test cricketer Kapil Dev,Delhi8217;s Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari,Syed Amin Hashmi of the Ajmer Sharif dargah,former Chief Justices R S Mongia and Rajindar Sachar,members of Indian human rights groups,Christian and Muslim bodies,doctors,engineers,lawyers,farmers and students,8221; Sheikh told a news conference here. Sheikh said he would submit the mercy petition to the President Zardari and also apprise him about the sentiments of the Indians in this regard.

8220;Since Sarabjit has been in prison for long,his sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment under the law,8221; he said. Commuting Sarabjit8217;s sentence will help improve relations between India and Pakistan,he added.

Sarabjit has been on death row since he was convicted for his alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in Pakistan8217;s Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His family insists that he was wrongly convicted for the bombings.

Though he was set to be hanged on April 1 last year,Pakistani authorities put off his execution indefinitely after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened in the matter.