By News Desk
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rejected India’s request to ‘acquit, release and return’ its national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced by Pakistan on charges of espionage, asking Pakistan to provide him consular access.
President of the Hague-based ICJ, Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf read out the decision in a public sitting at the Peace Palace’s courtroom on Wednesday.
In response to India’s plea to release Jadhav and to facilitate his safe passage to India, The court said, “It is not the conviction and sentence of Mr Jadhav, which are to be regarded as a violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention.”
The court did not uphold the submissions by India that the “partial or total annulment of conviction or sentence provided the necessary and sole remedy”.
It also declared that a continued stay of execution constituted an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of Jadhav’s conviction.
In its final verdict, the ICJ ruled that it had the jurisdiction to entertain the application of India under the Vienna Convention.
The United Nations’ top court said it had the jurisdiction under Article 1 of the Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of April 24, 1963. Pakistan had argued that Article 36 of Vienna Convention was not applicable in cases of espionage.
Serving Indian Navy Commander Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016 in a counter-intelligence operation from the Balochistan province.
A military court had handed him death sentence on April 10, 2017 on charges of espionage following his confession on operating for India’s intelligence agency, RAW to conduct terrorist activities on the Pakistani soil.
India had invoked the jurisdiction of ICJ on May 8, 2017 seeking stay in implementation of execution and later on expanded its prayer for consular access and also his acquittal, release and return.
The 15-member ICJ bench had reserved its decision on February 21 after hearing oral submissions by Pakistan and India.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office while responding to the verdict said that Pakistan, as a responsible member of the International community, upheld its commitment from the very beginning of the case by appearing before the honourable court for the provisional measures hearing despite a very short notice. Having heard the judgment, Pakistan will now proceed as per law.
It is reiterated that Indian Naval Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav entered Pakistan without a visa on authentic Indian Passport with a fake alias Hussain Mubarak Patel.
“Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav is responsible for acts of sabotage, espionage and multiple terrorist incidents in which scores of innocent Pakistani citizens were killed resulting into umpteen women being widowed and numerous children becoming orphans,” Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Muhammad Faisal said.
Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav has confessed all these acts during his trial in Pakistani court in front of a Judicial Magistrate. This is a clear case of Indian state terrorism, the statement concluded.
