An appellate court in Qatar has "reduced" the sentence of the eight Indian Navy veterans on death row, the external affairs ministry announced on Thursday.

The ministry announcement, which said the detailed judgment was awaited, did not spell out how the "sentences have been reduced".

Since all eight had been sentenced to death by the Court of First Instance of Qatar on October 26, a sentence reduction would mean they have been spared the death penalty.

"We are in close touch with the legal team as well as the family members to decide on the next steps," the ministry said.

From all indications, the case is far from over and the reduction in the death sentence is not the end of the ordeal for the eight veterans.

"We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also continue to take up the matter with the Qatari authorities,’’ the ministry added.

Stating that the Indian ambassador to Qatar and other officials were present in the Court of Appeal on Thursday with the family members when the verdict was pronounced, the government said: “We have stood by them since the beginning of the matter.”

Neither India nor Qatar has revealed the specific charges against the seven retired naval officers and one sailor. There have been reports in the media that they were arrested on charges of spying for the Israelis on a submarine project in Qatar.

The ministry said: “Due to the confidential and sensitive nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture.’’

The appeal against the Court of First Instance was filed on November 9 and there have been at least three hearings since. India has also been working the diplomatic channels to secure the release of the eight veterans.

Their families had been hoping for clemency from the Amir of Qatar since there is a provision that allows the head of state to pardon convicts on the country’s National Day, which falls on December 18.

A brief meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Amir of Qatar, Tamin bin Hammad Al Thani, in the UAE on December 1 on the sidelines of the Climate Change Conference had raised hopes of the eight being pardoned by him on December 18. But that did not happen.

Had the clemency route been adopted, India would have hoped to invoke the agreement signed with Qatar in 2015 for the transfer of sentenced prisoners, which would have allowed the naval veterans to serve the rest of their jail term in India.

The eight veterans are Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purenendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh. They were working for Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a defence services provider. The company provided training and other services to Qatar’s armed forces and security agencies.