[5][6] He was tried and convicted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan for a series of bomb attacks in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 bystanders in 1990.
On 14 April 2024, Singh's alleged murderer, Amir Sarfaraz Tamba, was attacked and killed by unknown masked gunmen near his home in Lahore.
[15] Singh was born in Bhikhiwind, located along the Indo-Pakistani border in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, India.
She also claimed that Singh's real brothers, Charanjit and Harbhajan, were not allowed to light his pyre at his funeral and were "pushed back" by people at the cremation ground.
[19] Singh and his supporters claimed that the arrest was a case of mistaken identity and that he was only a poor farmer who was drunk and had strayed over the border.
[22] The authorities claimed that he was 'Ranjit Singh' and had been responsible for the four blasts which killed 14 people, and had been arrested while returning to India after carrying out the bombings.
[21] The Supreme Court dismissed a petition to review his death sentence in March 2006 as Singh's lawyers failed to appear for the hearing.
[22] An Indian origin British lawyer, Jas Uppal,[29] campaigning for his release, pointed to several problems with the prosecution in the trial.
[22] Singh's lawyer, Abdul Rana Hamid, said that Salim's statements had no legal standing as they were never recorded in court.
[22] Five of his mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and the President of Pakistan, but in 2008 the government nonetheless put off Singh's execution indefinitely.
[34] On 27 June 2012, both Pakistani and international media reported President Asif Ali Zardari signed a document sent by the interior ministry of Pakistan commuting Singh's death sentence to life in prison.
[44] On 23 August 2005, Singh's case was taken up in both houses of the Indian Parliament, where the government was asked to take action for his release.
They met several prominent Pakistani politicians, including former Prime minister Nawaz Sharif to appeal for his release.
In 2009 British lawyer Jas Uppal started an online campaign "freesarabjitsingh.com"[45] to highlight the case and request human rights groups to intervene on his behalf.
[29] Awais Sheikh, Singh's Pakistani lawyer, supported the campaign and provided his services free of charge.
[46] In June 2012, Bollywood actor Salman Khan came forward to seek support from people and media for the release of Sarabjit.
[48] In April 2008, a group of Pakistani students organised a march seeking withdrawal of all official moves to pardon Singh.
He was admitted to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore in critical condition with severe head injuries, in a coma, with a broken backbone.
[52][53][54][55] Singh had been threatened after Afzal Guru was executed in India in February 2013 over his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack case.
[64][65] On 2 May 2013, he was reported to have died at 12:45 am local time in Lahore, when he was removed from the ventilator support after his condition worsened towards the middle of the night.
The Government of Punjab, India declared a three-day period of mourning over Singh's death and announced it would pay his descendants a compensation of Rs 1,00,00,000.