Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Friday said the government is making all-out efforts to bring back eight former Navy personnel on death row in Qatar.

“We are working closely to ensure that their interests are looked after,” Admiral Kumar said at a media briefing.

The eight Indian nationals were on October 26 awarded death sentences by Qatar’s Court of First Instance. India described the ruling as “deeply” shocking and expressed its determination to explore all legal options in the case.

An appeal has already been filed against the death sentence and a higher court in Qatar has already admitted the plea. The appeal has been filed by the legal team of the detained Indian nationals.

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, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) last month said that it was attaching “high importance” to this case and is exploring all legal options.