Amritsar, June 24 : A pall of gloom descended over the family of Sarabjeet Singh, the Indian national facing gallows in Pakistani jails for 18 years, on Wednesday after learning that the Pakistan's apex court has rejected his mercy plea.

Pakistan''s Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by Sarabjeet Singh's lawyer seeking a review of a death sentence imposed on him for spying and carrying out bombings in the 1990s in Pakistan.

A three-member Bench upheld the sentence, saying they had found no reason to reconsider the original ruling.

Meanwhile, the distraught family of Sarabjeet in Punjab wants the Government of India should intervene and save him.

"Yesterday we came to know that our father''s bail would be heard on Wednesday. We were really hoping for a positive outcome but today when we heard that his bail plea has been rejected, we are in a state of shock because results disappointed our expectations. It has saddened us," said Poonam, Sarabjeet Singh's daughter.

Also Sarabjeet Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur on this occasion appealed countrymen to come forward and help her brother gain freedom.

"I will again appeal to the Government of India and plead them but this time I will need the support of my countrymen so that our government wakes up from its slumber and take up the prisoner'' cause especially Sarabjeet''s case and I know that my countrymen would not disappoint us and support us," said Dalbir Kaur, Sarabjeet's sister.

Meanwhile, former chief minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh said in the national capital that the decision would further worsen the already strained relationship between India and Pakistan.

"This is a really sensitive issue. We had taken the matter with the Government of India and the Government had taken the matter with the Pakistani Government. But we are really sad that his (Sarabjeet) mercy has been rejected and that will unfortunately not lead to good relationship with our neighbouring states as so many issue are pending. Also I think it was for the Pakistani Government to take into consideration the larger perspective and to take a decision in that regard," said Amarinder Singh, former chief minister of Punjab.

Sarabjeet Singh was sentenced to death in 1991 for spying and bombings that killed 14 people. His family said he was innocent and had crossed the border into Pakistan accidentally in 1990 in a drunken state.

However, authorities in Pakistan contended that Sarabjeet Singh was arrested while trying to slip back into India after the bomb blasts.

The Government suspended his death sentence in May last year after his family visited Pakistan and appealed for a pardon.

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had also rejected Sarabjeet Singh''s mercy plea in March last year but deferred his execution after a request from the Indian government. (ANI)