The World - News from Dec. 2, 1988

Two Sikhs convicted in the 1984 assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi won a reprieve, 14 hours before they were due to be hanged. Lawyers for Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh lost one legal bid in the Delhi High Court to stay the execution but then went before India’s highest judicial body, the Supreme Court. It agreed to accept their petitions and set Tuesday for the hearings. Kehar Singh’s lawyer argued that his client’s mercy petition had been improperly dismissed. Satwant Singh’s lawyer said his client is willing to hang but wants to put on record his own account of events.