The Government will make all efforts to secure the release of eight former Navy personnel sentenced to death by a local court in Qatar last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar gave this assurance in New Delhi on Monday to their families.

He also said the Government attaches the “highest importance” to the case and fully shares their concerns and pain. 

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said the Centre is making “every effort” to secure the release of eight Navy veterans.  “Every effort is being made by the government to ensure we take up through the legal course and we get relief for our personnel,” he said at an event in Goa.

He also mentioned that they have not yet received the transcript of the court hearing.

The Navy chief said, “I have not yet seen the transcript of the court hearing...it was supposed to have been transcribed and provided to us on Sunday...we will have a look at it. In fact, you have heard the MEA statement on this. Every effort is being made by the government to ensure that....through the legal recourse and find relief for our personnel,”

Talking to reporters in Panaji on the sidelines of the Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) organised by the Indian Navy, Admiral Kumar said, “Every effort is being made by the (Union) Government to ensure we find relief for our personnel. We have heard the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) statement on this.”

This assurance by the External Affairs Minister and the Navy chief came in the backdrop of the eight Indians handed down death sentences on October 26 by Qatar’s Court of First Instance. 

New Delhi then had described the ruling as “deeply” shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case.

“Met this morning with the families of the 8 Indians detained in Qatar. Stressed that the Government attaches the highest importance to the case. Fully share the concerns and pain of the families,” Jaishankar said on ‘X’.

“Underlined that the Government will continue to make all efforts to secure their release. Will coordinate closely with the families in that regard,” he said.

The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage.

Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.

In its reaction to the ruling by the Qatari court, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that it is attaching “high importance” to this case and is exploring all legal options. The charges were filed against these Indian Navy veterans on March 25 and they were tried under Qatari law.

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.

Some of them were working on a highly sensitive project — Italian technology-based midget submarines with stealth characteristics.

Reports claimed the eight Navy veterans were accused of espionage.

The company was owned by an Omani national, a retired squadron leader of the Royal Omani Air Force.

He too was arrested along with the eight Indians, but was released in November, it was learnt.

The MEA had said, “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.” Those sentenced are Capt Navtej Singh Gill, Capt Birendra Kumar Verma, Capt Saurabh Vasisht, Cdr Amit Nagpal, Cdr Purnendu Tiwari, Cdr Sugunakar Pakala, Cdr Sanjeev Gupta and Sailor Ragesh. 

Their bail pleas were rejected numerous times and their detention extended by Qatari authorities. India’s Ambassador to Qatar met the men in prison on October 1 after being granted consular access.

The seventh hearing in the case took place on October 3, it was learnt.  The trial started in March.

Commander (retired) Purnendu Tiwari, who is among the detained Indians, served as Al Dahra’s managing director and commanded several warships while serving with the navy.

It was also learnt an Indian journalist and his spouse were recently asked by Qatari authorities to leave the country for reporting the case.

Meetu Bhargava, sister of one the former officers detained, had sought help from the  Government to bring her brother back in June this year.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, 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 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.