A day after Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a bill giving the right of appeal to Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav, former Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi said that New Delhi must ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Jadahav’s appeal is heard by a neutral country.
“We must go back to the ICJ, and again plea that either he (Kulbhushan Jadhav) be released on grounds of illegal conviction or tell ICJ that his appeal is heard in a neutral country, say Sri Lanka or Singapore,” Rohatgi said, news agency ANI quoted.
Citing that the atmosphere in Pakistan is such that India is treated as an arch-enemy, Rohatgi said that it is unlikely that Jadhav will get justice in an appeal by appointing an Indian lawyer.
Meanwhile, Kulbhushan Jadhav’s friend Arvind Singh said that Pakistan’s decision is a diplomatic win for India. “Under international pressure, following the ICJ verdict, Pakistan passed a bill in the national assembly that allows Kulbhushan Jadhav to appeal in High Courts. It’s a win for India & countrymen,” he told ANI.
Pakistan’s Law Minister justifies the move to pass the bill
Rohatgi’s observations came a day after the Lower House of the Pakistani Parliament passed the ICJ (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2020, thus allowing Jadhav consular access as directed by the ICJ in 2019.
Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in 2017. India has vehemently condemned the actions and alleged that he was abducted and falsely framed by Pakistan and awarded a death sentence by an ‘ad-hoc’ military court.
In July 2019, the ICJ ruled that Pakistan should carry out an “effective review and reconsideration” of the judicial process followed in awarding a death sentence to Jadhav and grant consular access to India. Justifying Thursday’s move, Pakistan’s Law Minister Farogh Nasim said that the bill was moved so as to prevent India from filing contempt proceedings against Pakistan in ICJ.
