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Kulbhushan Jadhav case: ICJ likely to hear India's plea on Monday, Pak says ready to respond

On Monday, the International Court of Justice is likely to hear New Delhi's plea said noted lawyer Harish Salve who will be representing India at the ICJ.

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On Monday, the International Court of Justice is likely to hear India’s plea said noted lawyer Harish Salve who will be representing India at the ICJ. Salve said on Wednesday that “India has taken a calibrated decision” on approaching the international court, in The Hague, Netherlands, and will wait to see Pakistan’s legal response.

“We are told to be there on Monday. We may have a hearing on Monday or a scheduling on Monday. We needed immediate relief. Whenever Pakistan is willing to be engaged we are ready,” the lawyer said. Salve also said that consular access to Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court, is the right of India and the Indian.

“There is a standalone obligation for consular access, which is not just the right of the State but also the right of the accused – and that is basically meant that right from the time you are arrested in the foreign country you have the benefit of consular access,” Salve told a TV channel.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ICJ said: “On 8 May 2017, the Republic of India instituted proceedings against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, accusing the latter of egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations’ (hereinafter the Vienna Convention’) in the matter of the detention and trial of an Indian national, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan. The Applicant contends that it was not informed of Mr. Jadhav’s detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights.”

Under Article 74, paragraph 4 of the ICJ rules, which says “pending the meeting of the Court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects”, ICJ President Justice Ronny Abraham has written to Pakistan seeking the suspension of the sentence.

India had moved the court on Monday seeking a set of reliefs including “by way of suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused”, and “restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court”.

It had also sought the sentence of the military court “arrived in brazen defiance of Vienna Convention rights” as well as the rights of the accused be declared violative of international law.

Pakistan Army promises to respond at an 'appropriate level'

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army said it will respond at an "appropriate level" to any query by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the death sentence given to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav by its military court on the charges of "spying".

Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told the media that Jadhav was sentenced by a military court after "due process of law".

"If the ICJ requests Pakistan anything about Jadhav, then the government of Pakistan will respond to it at an appropriate level, he said.

He said "the process is continuing within the army over the decision by the (military) court against Jadhav. However, he did not explain the nature of "process".

The statement came after Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and discussed the ICJ's stay order on the execution of Jadhav.

On the beheading of two Indian security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "We are a disciplined force and don t believe in such things. We would not have returned an Indian soldier with respect if we were involved in mutilations."

Pakistan sent back an Indian soldier who crossed the Line of Control last year.

Earlier, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said the government was analysing the Hague-based ICJ's authority in freezing the execution of Jadhav.

Aziz said the government would issue a statement on the issue in the next few days.

"We are analysing the Indian petition and the ICJ's authority in this case, Aziz said after the Hague-based ICJ stayed the execution of 46-year-old Jadhav.

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif in a tweet accused India of using Jadhav's death conviction to "divert" attention from its "state-sponsored" terrorism in the country.

"Indian letter to ICJ attempt to divert attention from state sponsored terrorism in Pakistan. Kulbhushan convicted of offences against national security," Asif tweeted.

The order by the ICJ came a day after India approached it against the death sentence handed down to Jadhav by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial last month.

Pakistan's media rejected India's claim over the order.

Geo TV said that the ICJ has no jurisdiction over Pakistan as it can only take cognizance of the matter with the consent of the parties.

Dawn online reported that ICJ has received the application of India, but did not report about the Indian claim on the stay order.

Similarly, The Express Tribune in its report on the issue has not reported about the stay order.

India, in its appeal to the ICJ, accused Pakistan of "egregious" violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy but Pakistan claimed to have arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.

Jadhav's sentencing evoked a sharp reaction in India.

India has warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out.

In its application, India had also informed the ICJ that it learnt about the death sentence against Jadhav from a press release.

Jadhav was sentenced to death for "espionage and subversive activities".

India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the Navy but denies that he has any connection with the government. It also said that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran.

India has also handed over to Pakistan an appeal by Jadhav's mother, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.

 

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