New Delhi:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to examine if the request of a Supreme Court judge for pardon to Pakistani prisoner Khalil Chishty could be considered on "humanitarian" grounds.
Singh has forwarded to Chidambaram the letter of request received from Justice Markandey Katju.
"I shall be grateful if you could examine the request of Justice Katju to see if a pardon to Dr Khalil Chishty could be considered on humanitarian grounds," the Prime Minister said in his letter to Chidambaram.
Justice Katju has made a "personal" appeal to Singh to release on "humanitarian grounds" Chishty, an 80-year-old Pakistani virologist who is in Indian jail since 1992 in a murder case.
Singh has also responded to Congress MP Rajiv Shukla, through whom the judge made the appeal, and informed him about his letter to the Home Minister.
Meanwhile, sources have told NDTV that the Rajasthan government will sign Chishty's release papers soon. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has cleared the convict's case and has forwarded it to the Governor who will meet the state home secretary to discuss the matter.