Islamabad HC forms larger bench on Kulbhushan Jadhav case

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 8 : Bowing down to India's diplomatic pressure, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has formed a larger bench to hear Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan.
Geo News reported that the larger bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mian Gull Hassan Aurangzeb, was formed on Friday and it will hear the case on September 3.
The decision comes after India continued to pressurise Pakistan into allowing consular access to Jadhav.
While the Imran Khan government has claimed of contacting the Indian government over the matter of appointing a legal representative for Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Earlier, the Pakistan media had reported that Islamabad Court has said Indian officials should be given an opportunity to present their stance.
However, no such communication was received by India's Ministry of External Affairs.
"We have not received any communication from the Pakistan government in this regard," said Anurag Srivastava, MEA spokesperson.
Last month, India had said Pakistan has blocked all avenues for effective remedy available to it in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
Pakistan claims that Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan in 2016 on charges of espionage. India has rejected Pakistan's allegations and said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar. In early 2017, a Pakistani military court sentenced him to death.
In July last year, International Court of Justice upheld India's claim that Pakistan has committed an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations on several counts.