Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Pak court gives India more time to appoint lawyer

Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April 2017 on charges of espionage and terrorism. India had approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan. Jadhav is challenging the death penalty.

After hearing both sides, the Hague-based ICJ issued a judgment in July 2019, asking Pakistan to grant India consular access to Jadhav and ensure a review of his sentence.

On Tuesday, a three-judge bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amer Farooq and Justice Miyangul Hasan Aurangzeb, heard the matter by the Law Ministry regarding nominating a lawyer for Jadhav. .

Pakistan’s Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan reminded the court that it had passed an order on May 5 asking the authorities to make another attempt to approach India for the appointment of a lawyer.

He informed the court that the message was conveyed to India but there has been no response so far.

Khan also told the court that India wanted consular access to Jadhav in a separate room, but the authorities could not afford to leave him alone with Indian representatives. “They can harm him even by just shaking hands with him,” he said.

He claimed that Pakistan was making efforts for full implementation of the decision to review and reconsider the ICJ, but India was creating hurdles.

Khan said that due to India’s interference, the government had requested the court to appoint a lawyer. “India wants to hire a lawyer from outside, but our law doesn’t allow it, and therefore India is in its territory,” he said.

Chief Justice Minallah said that Pakistan wants to implement the decision of ICJ. “Wouldn’t it be better to give them one more chance so that they can place their objections before the court,” he said.

The judge asked Khan to send a message to the Government of India and Jadhav. “Send another reminder to Kulbhushan and the Indian government. If India has any objections, it can tell them here, or someone from the Indian embassy in Pakistan can tell them. That may lead to a solution,” the judge said.

Later, the court adjourned the hearing of the case sine die.

There was no progress on the issue of review as India refused to appoint a local lawyer, while Pakistan sought an Indian lawyer to represent Jadhav in the court.

India has asked Pakistan to address “shortcomings” in the bill brought in to facilitate the review of Jadhav’s case, saying the proposed law does not create a mechanism for reconsideration as mandated by the ICJ .

India has said that the Review and Reconsideration Bill, 2020 does not create a mechanism to facilitate effective review and review of Jadhav’s case as mandated by the ICJ judgment and that municipal courts cannot be the arbiters of whether a state has has fulfilled its obligations in international law. .