World Desk, AnyTV, Islamabad
Published by: Shiv Sharan Shukla
Updated Thu, 03 Mar 2022 09:00 PM IST
Summary
After hearing the arguments of Pakistan’s Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan, the court on Thursday asked India to appoint a lawyer for Jadhav by April 13. Khalid Javed Khan says that India is deliberately delaying the appointment of a lawyer, so that he gets another chance to go to the ICJ.
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After hearing Pakistan’s Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan on Thursday, the court has asked India to appoint a lawyer for Jadhav by April 13. Pakistan’s Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan says that India is deliberately delaying the appointment of a lawyer, so that it gets another chance to go to the ICJ.
Retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav (50) was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April 2017 for spying and spreading terrorism. India appealed against it in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
India maintains that Jadhav is doing business after retirement from the Navy and was kidnapped from there by Pakistani intelligence agency to implicate him on false charges when he went to Iran in this connection. India also accused Pakistan of not providing consular access to Jadhav.
The ICJ in July 2019 ordered Pakistan to re-review the Jadhav case, give it an opportunity of appeal against the military court and provide India consular access to it.
Following the ICJ’s order, the Islamabad High Court had in August 2020 constituted a three-member bench of Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Miyangul Hasan Aurangzeb. This bench has asked India several times to nominate a lawyer from Pakistan for Jadhav, but India maintains that Kulbhushan Jadhav should be given an opportunity to appoint an Indian lawyer.
In the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, in November 2021, the Parliament of Pakistan enacted a law empowering the military court to file review appeals against his conviction. Pakistan’s International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Act 2021 has allowed Jadhav to challenge his sentence in the High Court through a review process.
At the same time, India says that this law simply codifies the shortcomings of the previous ordinance. Islamabad has failed to create an environment to ensure a fair trial in the matter.