Sarabjit Singh who is facing charges of espionage in Pakistan on Thursday was hoping for clemency as a peace dividend from improving relations between the historically bitter rivals.

Shah Rukh Khan and other actors have also thrown their weight behind the campaign to save Singh. "He has already served 15 years in prison and purely on humanitarian grounds we appeal for his release," said Khan, whose recent blockbuster film Veer-Zaara centres around an Indian who spent years in Pakistani prisons on trumped-up espionage charges.

PM Manmohan Singh has assured Singh's relatives that he would himself speak to Musharraf and seek his intervention in the matter. The matter was officially raised with the Pakistani authorities on Wednesday when India's High Commissioner in Islamabad called on the Pakistani Foreign Secretary.

MPs on both sides pledged to raise the matter with their respective Governments. While Singh's family was hoping for clemency, Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid on Wednesday said Islamic law would not permit Musharraf to use his presidential authority to pardon Singh. "In Islamic law, only the heirs (of the victims) can give the pardon.

Nobody else can," he told an Indian TV station. Top diplomats from both countries were due to meet in Islamabad towards the end of the month when the issue was likely to be raised, if it was not resolved before then.

Sarabjit Singh's relatives say he is a simple farmer who was arrested after he strayed across the Pakistani border from his northern frontier hometown of Bhikiwind in Punjab state drunk in 1990.

Pakistan says he was working for the Indian intelligence agency RAW when he was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore. His sister Dalbir Kaur says her brother has been confused with Manjit Singh, whom the Pakistani authorities want for a series of bombings in Lahore in 1990.

Pakistani officials said he had confessed to his crimes and was using Manjit Singh as an alias. After 15 years of litigation, the Pakistani Supreme Court upheld the lower court verdicts this week and ordered his hanging but set no date for the execution.

Singh's lawyers are to apply for a judicial review and if that is turned down, their only hope would be a presidential pardon from Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf.

Janata Dal (United) party, meanwhile, has sent a petition to Musharraf pleading for Singh's life, media reports said on Thursday.

"Mr Sarabjit Singh is a poor young man ... and his execution will destroy the lives of his family members," the petition reads.

"This situation can easily be avoided by the government of Pakistan adopting a humanitarian approach, especially in view of the prevailing climate of goodwill between the two countries. We appeal to the government of Pakistan to reconsider its decision."

Singh's relatives have threatened to commit mass suicide if the sentence is carried out, prompting action from the Indian authorities as film stars, lawmakers and television networks rallied behind the growing campaign to save him. "We want to convey our feelings to General Musharraf through the people of Pakistan that my husband is innocent and he must be released immediately," said Singh's wife, Suhkpreet Singh.