LONDON, May 4: Lawyers working for a deaf British charity worker given a 10-year jail sentence in India for possession of cannabis will take his case to India’s Supreme Court on Monday.

The family of Ian Stillman, who has only one leg, said on Saturday his legal team was only given a few days notice of the hearing, which they say will decide whether Stillman is granted leave to appeal to the court.

“It’s hit us like a bit of a bombshell. Nothing happens for a few months and suddenly you’re presented with a crucial date, like Monday, it’s taken the family a little bit by surprise,” Stillman’s brother-in-law Jerry Dugdale told Reuters.

Stillman was arrested in August 2000 by police in India’s Himachal Pradesh state who said they found a bag in the taxi he was travelling in containing 20 kg (44 lb) of cannabis resin.

The Free Ian Stillman campaign Web site (www.ianstillman.fsnet.co.uk) says he “denies all knowledge of the drugs”. Supporters say he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Stephen Jacobi of the pressure group Fair Trials Abroad, which is backing Stillman, said he was denied an interpreter during his original trial because the court would not recognise the extent of his deafness and he was not given the chance to speak on his own behalf.

Jacobi said the case was attracting attention among human rights campaigners in India. “Ian is being represented by Indira Jaising who is probably the most prominent human rights lawyer in India,” Jacobi told Reuters.

“It is very rare, if not unprecedented, for someone like her to take on what is on the surface an ordinary criminal case, which it is not,” he said.

“His physical condition is getting worse. He’s been fully diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy. It means the nerves in his limbs start to die and the danger is that if they do he will lose his good foot,” Dugdale said.

“Because of Ian’s medical condition this hearing may prove crucial in terms of giving Ian immediate bail. There is a slim chance,” he said.—Reuters