The Indian legal team sought annulment of self-confessed Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s death sentence or a retrial in a Pakistan civilian court with full consular access on Wednesday.
India External Affairs Ministry Joint Secretary Deepal Mittal made the concluding remarks by reading out the relief sought by India with regards to Kulbhushan Jadhav after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) adjourned the hearing of the high-profile case until today (Thursday).
He asked the court to annul Jadhav’s death sentence by a Pakistani military court, arrange his release and send him back to India.
“If not so, then annul his sentence and refer his case to a civilian court awarding India with the right to appoint a lawyer for his defence,” he remarked. Earlier during the hearing, the Indian side reiterated its demand of granting consular access to Jadhav after the top United Nations (UN) court resumed hearing of the case.
The ICJ is conducting a four-day hearing, which begun on Monday, of the case of Jadhav, who was convicted of espionage by a Pakistani military court and sentenced to death in April 2017. During Tuesday’s proceedings, the Pakistani team ripped India’s contradictory claims apart in the case and accused the South Asian arch rival of using the top UN court for “political theatre”.
As the Indian side began presenting its arguments, Indian counsel Harish Salve criticised the language used by his Pakistani counterpart saying it was not in line with “dignity of this court”.
“This language was never used in this court earlier. Perhaps this court should draw a line now on the use of such language,” Harish Salve remarked. “India never denies the nationality of its citizens like Pakistan has been doing in the past. On March 25, when Pakistan issued demarche to India on arrest of RAW agent, it did so because it knew Jadhav is an Indian citizen,” he said. Salve said that carrying a passport of another country didn’t warrant death penalty even under the Pakistani laws. “Pakistan had no other evidence to prove Jadhav was involved in espionage and sabotage activities other than his confession taken in custody,” he added.
“Article 36 of Vienna Convention covers people arrested on espionage charges. Bilateral agreement on consular access cannot override Article 36 of the convention,” he said. Salve, while talking about the military courts in Pakistan trying civilians, said domestic law should never be considered a defence against a violation of international law or obligation. “In Pakistan, judicial review of Pakistan courts has narrow ambit, they have not interfered with military court decisions many times,” he claimed.
Responding to Pakistan’s legal adviser Khawar Qureshi’s scathing criticism of the Indian government during the hearing, Salve said, “I would say that there was a time when the world respected Pakistan, but today the world doesn’t have the same respect in its present incarnation.”
He said while Jadhav’s trial was completed in four months, the trial of Mumbai attack was still pending. Deepak Mittal made the concluding remarks by reading out the relief sought by India with regards to Jadhav. He asked the court to annul the death sentence of Jadhav by the Pakistani military court, arrange his release and send him back to India. The sitting was later adjourned for the day as the court will convene again today (Thursday) to hear Pakistan’s second round of submissions. Earlier in the day, the ICJ had refused to entertain Pakistan’s request to adjourn the hearing to appoint a new ad-hoc judge, citing the illness of Tassaduq Hussain Jillani. Jadhav was captured in Balochistan in March 2016. He confessed to his association with the Indian intelligence agency – Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) – and his involvement in espionage and fomenting terrorism in Pakistan. Subsequently, the 48-year-old was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of spying and terrorism in April 2017. In May 2017, India moved the ICJ against the verdict.
A delegation led by Attorney General for Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan and comprising Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal, Foreign Affairs Director Fariha Bugti, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Shujaat Ali Rathore and others, is in The Hague to represent Pakistan’s case.
Published in Daily Times, February 21st 2019.
