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India wants gaps in bill for Kulbhushan Jadhav fixed, Pak calls it obfuscation
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed Kulbhushan Jadhav’s execution in 2018 and ruled the following year that Pakistan must undertake an “effective review and reconsideration” of his conviction and sentencing.
NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Saturday contended India was engaging in a campaign to obfuscate the issue of appointing a lawyer to represent Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death for alleged involvement in spying.
The claim by Islamabad came two days after India asked Pakistan to remove shortcomings in a bill passed by the neighbouring country’s Parliament to allow Jadhav to appeal against his conviction.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was arrested in March 2016 in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on charges of spying and sentenced to death by a military court the following year. India has rejected the charges levelled against him and said he was kidnapped by Pakistani operatives from the Iranian port of Chabahar, where he was running a business.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed Jadhav’s execution in 2018 and ruled the following year that Pakistan must undertake an “effective review and reconsideration” of his conviction and sentencing.
A statement issued on Saturday by Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson said paragraph 118 of the ICJ’s judgement requires India to “act in good faith, and arrange legal representation” for Jadhav.
“Regrettably, India has been engaging in a deliberate campaign to obfuscate the issue of appointment of a lawyer. As a result, the government of Pakistan had to initiate proceedings before the Islamabad high court to request the court to appoint a lawyer for Commander Jadhav,” the statement said.
The high court had “invited India to clarify its position in this regard but India continues to deliberately politicise the issue”, it added.
In keeping with the ICJ’s judgment, Pakistan chose to provide Jadhav the right of review and reconsideration by the country’s superior courts through the International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Ordinance of 2020, the spokesperson said.
“Pakistan’s commitment to uphold the ICJ judgment was again reflected by the passage of ICJ (Review and Reconsideration) Bill for Review from the National Assembly of Pakistan,” the statement further said.
The International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill was passed by Pakistan’s National Assembly or lower house of Parliament on June 10. The bill, which is yet to clear the Senate or upper house, is aimed at ensuring consular access to Jadhav in line with the ICJ verdict, which called for an effective review of his conviction.
The Islamabad high court recently adjourned till October 5 the hearing of the Pakistan government’s petition regarding the appointing of a counsel for Jadhav.
India has said the bill passed by Pakistan’s National Assembly has several shortcomings and does not “create a machinery to facilitate effective review and reconsideration of Jadhav’s case, as mandated by the judgement of the ICJ”.
The external affairs ministry said the bill invites municipal courts in Pakistan to decide whether or not any prejudice has been caused to Jadhav on account of the failure to provide consular access. “This is clearly a breach of the basic tenet that municipal courts cannot be the arbiter of whether a state has fulfilled its obligations in international law,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday.
