The designated Court-I confirmed the four black warrants issued against Murugan, Nalini, Santhan and Perarivalan, following the rejection of their review petitions by the Supreme Court, and ordered their hanging on November 5, Prison Department sources said.

However, with their lawyer expected to send in mercy petitions on their behalf in a day or two, the Prison Superintendent would be in no hurry to carry out the execution, the sources said.

The court was only following routine procedure by fixing a date on receiving the apex court order rejecting the review petitions, the sources said.

Normally, as soon as a mercy petition was sent, the Jail Superintendent himself would stay the execution for a week.Thereafter, the Government would extend the stay indefinitely, until the President disposed of the matter, officials said.

N Chandrasekaran, defence counsel, said he would go to Vellore Prison tomorrow to take the signatures of the accused on the mercy petitions. However, it is not yet clear whether all of them are going to sign them.

All 26 persons sent for trial in the case were sentenced to death by the trial court on January 28, 1998, but the Supreme Court, on May 11, confirmed only four of them.

Three others had their sentences commuted to life, and the remaining 19 were acquitted of involvement in the conspiracy to assassinate the former prime minister on May 21, 1991. They were convicted for minor offences, but were either released or sent off to special camps for Sri Lankans, as they had undergone their prison terms during the trial.

On October 8, the apex court, by a majority of 2-1, rejected review petitions filed on behalf of the four condemned prisoners.