Pakistan govt moves Islamabad High Court to appoint counsel for Kulbhushan Jadhav
Jul 22, 2020
Islamabad [Pakistan], July 22 : The Pakistan government on Wednesday moved the Islamabad High Court seeking to appoint a counsel for Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav in order to "implement the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision to meet the requirements of a fair trial."
The petition, filed by Ministry of Law and Justice under a federal ordinance, stated that the "IHC should appoint a counsel to review and reconsider the verdict of the military court in accordance with the decision of the ICJ," reported The Express Tribune.
This comes days after it was reported Pakistan has offered third consular access to India for Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Earlier, India had said that Jadhav was "visibly under stress" as Pakistan did not permit a free conversation between him and the consular officers and they were not given "unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional" access.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson had said that the conversation between Jadhav and consular officers was being recorded as evident from a camera and the consular access offered by Pakistan was neither "meaningful nor credible".
The spokesperson had said that Pakistani officials with an intimidating demeanour were present in close proximity of Jadhav and consular officers despite the protests of the Indian side.
He said Jadhav himself was visibly under stress and indicated that clearly to the consular officers.
India had recently requested the Pakistani side for an unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional consular access to be provided on July 13. Pakistan was asked to ensure that the meeting is held in an atmosphere free from fear of retribution and without the presence of any Pakistani official in the vicinity of Jadhav and the Indian consular officials.
Pakistan was also requested to not record (video and audio) the meeting.
The spokesperson had said that any conversation between Jadhav and High Commission officials must necessarily take place in privacy and without the presence of any Pakistani official or recording by Pakistan.
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 May 2017, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed his execution.
In July last year, the ICJ, by a vote of 15-1, had upheld India's claim that Pakistan has committed an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations on several counts.
