Has Nimisha Priya been pardoned in Yemen? How Grand Mufti's big claim has been refuted

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Uncertainty continues in the case of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, whose execution in Yemen was deferred earlier this month. The claim by the 'Grand Mufti of India' that the woman's sentencing was overturned has been refuted by sources in the Indian government. The family of the man Priya killed has also said that no pardon has been granted read more
Has Nimisha Priya's death sentence been overturned? The 38-year-old nurse from Kerala is on the death row in Yemen for killing her business partner. More than two weeks after Nimisha Priya's execution was deferred, the 'Grand Mufti of India', Kanthapuram AP Abubakar Musliyar, has claimed that the punishment was completely overturned. However, the Indian government and the victim's family have refuted the claim.
What's the latest in the case? And is there any truth to the Grand Mufti's claim? We explain.
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Is Nimisha Priya saved from the gallows? Grand Mufti says…
On Monday (July 28), the office of the 'Grand Mufti of India', Kanthapuram AP Abubakar Musliyar, reportedly claimed that Nimisha Priya's death sentence had been officially cancelled. It, however, added that it had yet to receive official written communication from authorities in Yemen.
Nimisha Priya was scheduled to be executed on July 16 for killing her business partner, Talal Abdo Mehdi, a Yemeni national, in 2017. However, her sentencing was deferred, and no further date was set. Then came the big claim.
'The death sentence of Nimisha Priya, which was previously suspended, has been overturned. A high-level meeting held in Sanaa decided to completely cancel the death sentence that was temporarily suspended earlier,' according to a statement issued by the Grand Mufti's office and quoted by the news agency ANI.
The office of Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar, who holds the ceremonial title of 'Grand Mufti of India', reportedly claimed that Nimisha Priya's death sentence was revoked. Image courtesy: Markaz Knowledge City
According to reports, the decision to overturn the nurse's death sentence was taken at a meeting in the Yemeni capital. Senior Yemeni scholars, appointed by Sheikh Umar Hafeel Thangal at the request of the Indian Grand Mufti, mediated with the rulers of Northern Yemen and international diplomats, it was earlier reported. The meeting was concluded with the complete cancellation of the death sentence.
According to Musliyar's office, while some key decisions regarding the case have been made, further deliberations were expected. The pending matters, which included a resolution with the family of the murdered Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mehdi, will be finalised through continued discussions, media reports claimed.
Who is the 'Grand Mufti of India'?
A mufti is a Muslim scholar, an Islamic law expert, qualified to give legal opinions on matters of Sharia. Grand Mufti is the highest-ranking cleric in the country.
Musliyar, whose official name is Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, is a revered figure in the Sunni Muslim sect and has a following not only in India but also in South Asia. The 94-year-old cleric is based in Kerala, the state Nimisha Priya hails.
He is widely known as the 'Grand Mufti of India', though it is not an official title. He is the 10th person to hold the title. A leader in Islamic education, social welfare, and public discourse, he rose to prominence over the years.
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Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad was conferred the 'Grand Mufti of India' title in February 2019 at the Gareeb Nawaz Peace Conference held at New Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, organised by the All India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam, a national body of Sunni clerics. He is the general secretary of All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama and the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, two of India's most influential Sunni Muslim organisations. He is also chairman of the Markaz Knowledge City project, a private integrated township in his hometown, Kozhikode, which runs educational institutions, charitable organisations, social service centres, and a cultural centre.
Musliyar is a regular at global interfaith gatherings and represented Indian Muslim scholars at international forums, including sessions at the United Nations and events organised by Unesco, reports The Hindu.
In the past, he has grabbed headlines for his views on the Babri Masjid verdict and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In 2019, he appealed to the Muslim community to accept the verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi issue. Musliyar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in March 2020 and urged them to amend the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
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What is his role in the Nimish Priya case?
After Yemeni authorities set July 16 as the date for Nimisha Priya's execution, there was hectic activity going on to delay the sentencing. Politicians in Kerala requested the government to step in, but India does not have a formal diplomatic relationship with the Houthis, the rebel group that controls parts of Yemen, including Sana'a, where Nimisha Priya is lodged in jail.
Amid the hectic parlays, Kerala Congress MLA Chandy Oommen reportedly approached the Grand Mufti, requesting him to secure mercy under Islamic law. The cleric reached out to prominent Yemeni Sufi scholar Sheikh Habib Umar bin Hafiz to explore the possibility of obtaining a pardon from the victim's family under the Islamic concept of diyah, also known as blood money, according to a report in The Hindu.
The Grand Mufti appealed to religious leaders in Yemen to pardon the nurse in exchange for financial compensation. A coordinated effort involving Yemeni tribal leaders, judicial authorities, and religious scholars led to Nimisha Priya's execution being temporarily deferred, the report says.
However, a report by The Indian Express pointed to the role of the Indian government in deferring the execution. According to social worker Samuel Jerome Baskaran, who has been leading the negotiations in the case, the decision to postpone the death sentence was taken by the Yemeni government after Abdul Malik Al Nehaya, ruler of the Al Wasab region, met the President of Yemen on July 11. A day later, he agreed to defer to sentencing. 'The Indian government also got involved in this mission,' he had said.
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What is the Indian government saying about the case now?
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has refuted reports that Nimisha Priya's execution has been revoked. 'Information being shared by certain individuals on the Nimisha Priya case is inaccurate,' MEA sources said today.
Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala, was convicted of killing her business partner and Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mehdi in 2017 and was sentenced to death in 2018.
What is the victim's family saying?
The family of the Yemeni businessman called the Grand Mufti's claim baseless. In a rebuttal to a statement made by the office of Musaliyar, Mehdi's brother, Abdul Fattah Mehdi, denied that a pardon had been granted to Nimisha Priya.
'Certain preachers who claim to speak in the name of religion step forward to create a false sense of heroism for themselves — at our expense,' Abdul Fattah said, according to CNN-News18. 'Talal's blood will not become merchandise in a negotiation bazaar.'
Questioning the claims made by the cleric, he said, 'Who authorised them, when, and on what basis?' He emphasised that under Yemeni law, a death sentence can only be reversed if the victim's family accepts blood money — a decision his family has not yet made. 'If any decision is to be made, we are the ones who will make it,' he said.
What can we expect next in the Nimisha Priya case?
Efforts are ongoing to save the nurse from the gallows. However, when the Houthi Supreme Political Council rejected Nimisha Priya's appeal in November 2023, it left a very small window under the Sharia law – only the victim's family can now forgive her if they were paid blood money.
Diplomatic efforts by the Indian government are underway. Indian officials are regularly in touch with jail authorities in Sana'a and the prosecutor's office in Yemen, according to reports.
For now, Nimisha Priya's fate hangs in balance.
With inputs from agencies