The Islamabad High Court has set up a special bench that has heard the case of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage as per Geo News report

The report said that a bench headed by Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Athar Minallah would hear the case from next week.

Jio TV reported that Jadhav will be given a lawyer on Monday to fight his case.

Earlier this week, Pakistan placed the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance, 2020 in Parliament for approval. According to the Pakistani media report, the ordinance will have a wide-ranging impact, as its provisions will have some effect for the time being contained in any law, including the Pakistan Army Act 1952.

The report said the law would pave the way for Jadhav to appeal against the death penalty by a military court in 2017.

 On 23 July, India accused Pakistan of not granting undisputed consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, blocking legal measures in violation of the International Court of Justice ruling.

India’s Foreign Ministry said that the inadequacies and shortcomings of the said ordinance had already been reported to Pakistani authorities in June 2020, including considerable delay in informing India of its proclamation.

“Pakistan took two weeks to inform us about this ordinance and shared the copy of the ordinance only after India requested it. India has given the message that the ordinance neither fulfills nor the ICJ’s Gives full weight to the verdict.

“Concerning the ordinance, it seems, Pakistan was non-serious in its approach and was not interested in implementing the letter and sentiment to the ICJ’s decision. It closed all avenues for an effective measure available to India Are, ”Anurag Shrivastava, a spokesperson for the external affairs ministry, said in a statement.