The Islamabad High Court on Monday ordered the Government of Pakistan to give India “One more chance” to appoint an advocate for Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian citizen facing the death penalty.
He was awarded death sentence in April 2017 by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and terrorism.
India had moved the Hague-based International Court of Justice against Pakistan’s refusal to provide diplomatic access to Jadhav and challenged his death sentence.
The ICJ said in its order in July 2019 that Pakistan would have to “Effectively review and reconsider” Jadhav’s conviction and sentence.
He will have to allow India to contact him through diplomatic channels without delay.
On Monday, a bench of 2 judges of the Islamabad High Court heard the petition of the Pak government to appoint a lawyer for Jadhav.
The Pakistan government in its petition had requested the High Court to appoint a legal representative for Jadhav, so that he could fulfill the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the ICJ decision.
The petition also claimed that Jadhav refused to file a review petition or a review petition against the military court verdict against him.
Justice Minallah was quoted as saying by Geo News, “Since the subject is now in the High Court, why is India not being given a second chance.” The judge said that the Government of India or Jadhav can reconsider their decision related to the review petition.
He said, “India and Kulbhushan Jadhav should once again propose to appoint a lawyer for a prisoner facing the death penalty.” Reacting to the judge’s remarks, Pakistan’s Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan said the ordinance was issued to allow India and Jadhav to file a review petition against the sentence.
He said, “We will contact India once again through the Foreign Office.
The Government of Pakistan filed a review petition in the High Court on 22 July.
The main party in the case, including the Government of India, was not approached before the Law and Justice Ministry applied the ordinance, which came into effect from May 20.
A petition for review of the decision of the military court under the ‘ICJ Review and Reconsideration Ordinance 2020’ can be filed in the Islamabad High Court within 60 days of the ordinance’s implementation.
At the same time, in New Delhi, Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Shrivastava said last month that Pakistan has once again demonstrated its fraudulent stance by refusing to allow Jadhav to use the available legal remedies against capital punishment.
