UPA had hired Pak’s ICJ lawyer

The UPA government had hired Pakistani-origin UK lawyer Khawar Qureshi — who recently argued against India at the International Court of Justice, defending Pakistan’s decision to execute alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav — for a case in 2005, it has been revealed.

Qureshi was reportedly recommended by law firm Fox Mandal for the Dabhol power project case, in which the firm Enron had made a $6 billion claim against the government of India. In 2004, when Congress-led UPA came to power, the then government changed the entire legal team and appointed Qureshi to appear on its behalf.

An article from 2004 in The Lawyer states that Qureshi had been appointed as a counsel for the government of India. The UPA government had overlooked Indian lawyers to hire Qureshi in the Dabhol case. Defending the decision, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said on Friday that Qureshi is an independent barrister and Indian lawyers are also engaged by Pakistan. Singhvi said that the entire matter is a non-issue.

...& ANALYSIS

• The ICJ’s verdict in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case is a feather in the cap of the Indian government.
   
• That the UPA had hired the lawyer who represented Pakistan can be viewed as an embarrassment for it.