Pak said Kulbhushan Jadhav refused to consider his case and wished to appeal for pardon. (File)
New Delhi:
India has asked Pakistan to grant unconditional access to Kulbhushan Jadhav before the July 20 deadline to file a petition for review, sources told GalacticGaming.
Pakistan said last week that Kulbhushan Jadhav – sentenced to death by his military court – had refused to file for a review and instead “preferred” to appeal for a pardon.
India has rejected this claim, saying it was evidence of Islamabad’s “reluctance” to execute the order of the International Court of Justice “in letter and spirit”.
New Delhi also said it had been forced by Islamabad to waive its right to request the execution of the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
In July last year, the International Court of Justice asked Pakistan to review Kulbhushan Jadhav’s death sentence, and suspended his death sentence in the meantime. The court also agreed with India’s position that Pakistan had violated the Vienna Convention by denying it consular access after its conviction in a “grotesque” closed trial.
At a press conference last week, Pakistan’s attorney general Ahmed Irfan said that Kulbhushan Jadhav had been asked to file a petition for review on June 17. But he “preferred to follow up on his pending petition for pardon,” he said. Pakistan, he added, offered him a second consular access.
“Kulbhushan Jadhav was sentenced to death in a far-fetched trial. He is still detained by the Pakistani military. He was clearly forced to refuse to file a review in his case,” said the foreign ministry. .
“In a brazen attempt to scuttle even the insufficient remedy provided by the order, Pakistan has manifestly forced Shri Jadhav to waive his right to seek the enforcement of the ICJ judgment,” the ministry said.
In the past, Pakistan, while granting access to an adviser, had insisted that English be the spoken language and Pakistani officials were present during the meeting. The deadline for filing a plea for review ends on July 20.
In May, Pakistan adopted an order authorizing a high court to review the sentence handed down by their military court.
According to the controversial order, Pakistan clarified that even senior Indian officials or a person authorized by Kulbhushan can file an appeal during the said period and have also offered consular access.
Pakistan, the foreign ministry said, said its laws “allow for effective review and re-examination” in the face of Indian arguments. Now, after almost a year, “they have turned around and issued an order to provide for some sort of review,” said a spokesman for the foreign ministry.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former naval officer, was arrested by Pakistan in March 2016 and charged with “spying” – a charge that India has dismissed. A year later, a Pakistani military court sentenced him to death. In April 2017, India brought Pakistan to court, and the following month, Mr. Jadhav’s execution was suspended.
While Pakistan claimed that Mr. Jadhav had been arrested from Balochistan, India claimed that he had been kidnapped from Iran, where he had commercial interests after his retirement from the navy. India has also accused Pakistan of denying it consular access in violation of the Vienna Convention.
