The Islamabad High Court has allowed India to appoint a legal representative for Kulbhushan Jadhav.
New Delhi, August 3:
Kulbhushan Jadhav, the 50-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.
Islamabad High Court on Monday adjourned the Kulbhushan Jadhav case till September 3. The court was to hear the plea submitted by the Pakistan government against Indian prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav’s sentence on Monday on the basis of the Presidential Ordinance that allows the review of a decision of the military court in a civilian court.
Speaking to the media in the court premises, Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan confirmed that the courts have allowed India to hire a lawyer, but not an Indian.
He said, “The court has said that if we want to change the lawyer or if the India government wants to engage a counsel themselves then they should be allowed to do that.”
To a question on whether if the Indian mission in Islamabad can engage an Indian lawyer or not, the Attorney General said, “Only Pakistani lawyers, those who are entitled to practice in Pakistan will be allowed. Indian legal representative is not an option for now. Let’s see who they engage.”
In a unilateral move, Pakistan filed the petition in the Islamabad High Court on July 22, seeking the appointment of a “legal representative” for Jadhav. However, the main parties, including the Government of India, were not consulted ahead of the filing of the application by the Ministry of Law and Justice under an ordinance which was enacted on May 20.
Islamabad High Court on Thursday had constituted a two-member bench to hear the review petition filed by the Pakistan government in Jadhav’s case.
The bench comprising Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah and his fellow judge Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb took up the government plea on Monday.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, the 50-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.
India has maintained that Pakistan failed to provide it “unhindered” and “unimpeded” consular access to Jadhav as mandated in a judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
During his weekly briefing on July 23, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “The whole exercise of not providing any documents related to the case even after repeated requests, not providing unimpeded consular access and some reported unilateral action of approaching the High Court on part of Pakistan again exposes the farcical nature of Pakistan’s approach,”
“Pakistan is not only in violation of the judgment of ICJ but also of its own Ordinance. Pakistan has completely failed to provide the remedy as directed by the ICJ and India reserves its position in the matter, including its rights to avail of further remedies,” he added.
The Presidential decree called the ‘International Court of Justice Review and Reconsideration Ordinance 2020’ allows for a petition to be filed for review of a military court’s decision at Islamabad High Court through an application within 60 days of its promulgation.
The ordinance was laid in the Lower House of the National Assembly this week amid uproar and protest by the opposition benches. It was then referred to the standing committee for further deliberation as per the legislative procedure.
Opposition parties have representatives in the committee so they would be free to review and add recommendations.
The Standing Committee would then send the ordinance with recommendations back to the Lower House for proper legislation.
The next session of Parliament is on Friday.
