The BJP tore into Congress for hiring Pak-origin lawyer Khawar Qureshi who had argued against India at the ICJ in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
In a shocking revelation, WION News revealed on Friday that the Congress-led UPA government had hired Pak-origin UK lawyer Khawar Qureshi in 2004. He was reportedly recommended by law firm Fox Mandal for the Dabhol case.
Qureshi recently argued against India at the ICJ where he called India’s claims about Kulbhushan Jadhav ‘far-fetched’. The Congress-led UPA government had hired Khawar to represent India in the Dabhol power project case. In that particular case, Enron had made a US $ 6 billion (5 billion pounds) claim against the government of India, the case went to arbitration. In 2004, when Congress-led UPA came to power, they changed the entire legal team and appointed Khawar Qureshi to appear on behalf of the Indian government.
The UPA government had hired Qureshi in the Dabhol case overlooking Indian lawyers. Defending the decision, Congress national spokesperson Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi defended the move saying that Qureshi was an independent barrister and Indian lawyers are also engaged by Pakistan. Singhvi said that the entire matter is a non-issue.
The BJP ripped into Congress for its ‘hypocrisy’ and wondered why it always ‘spoke in the voice of Pakistan’. BJP spokesman GVL Narsimha Rao said: “Congress always stands up and speaks in support of Pakistan, in case of surgical strikes. They have questioned our army, and they spoke the voice of Pakistan. Yet another shocking instance of Congress party's hypocrisy has now come to light.”
He said: “After coming to power in 2004, one of the early actions was to change the entire legal team that was making India's case. Presenting India's case was none other than Khawar Qureshi who represented Pakistan at ICJ.”
Rao wondered why the Congress didn’t find any Indian lawyer to present its case. He said: “Incidentally, they only found a Pak-origin lawyer to present India's case so when the Congress party raises questions about Make in India initiative, one really cannot but come to the conclusion, that Congress only has respect for 'Made in Pakistan' lawyers and not for 'make in India' lawyers.”
He further said that Congress couldn’t just call it a ‘professional decision’ and must explain why it showed such ‘confidence, respect and love for Pakistani-origin’ lawyer.
Citing the example of Harish Salve, who was the lead counsel for India at the ICJ this week, he said it was surprising that the UPA government could not find an Indian lawyer to represent the country in such a sensitive case.
Rao named Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Mani Shankar Aiyar as instances of Congress leaders allegedly speaking in support of Pakistan.
The ICJ this week stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested by Pakistan on charges of espionage and subversive activities. While Pakistan claims he was nabbed from Balochistan, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.
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Earlier, the Jadhav ruling triggered criticism of the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) for its "poor handling" and also for its choice of UK-based Khawar Qureshi, who represented Pakistan's case before the ICJ. Following the criticism, Pakistan will constitute a new team of lawyers to "vigorously" present its case against Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav at the ICJ, the Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs said today as the government faced flak over the handling of the case.
The announcement by Sartaj Aziz came amid criticism by experts and opposition leaders over the government's handling of the case at the International Court of Justice.
The Hague-based court had stayed the execution of Jadhav, 46, considered to be a spy by Pakistan.
The UN's highest judicial body also asked Pakistan to take "all measures" to ensure that Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage, was not executed till the court had delivered its final verdict on the issue.
Aziz, however, maintained that Qureshi had "courageously" presented Pakistan's case in the court, the Nation reported. He said the ICJ had given its point of view on Jadhav's case to get counselor access.
"Pakistan s security is so important and we have to maintain our fundamental sovereign right," Aziz was quoted as saying by the daily.
With inputs from agencies
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