The Daily Populous Sunday April 20th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by firstpost.com and submitted by peoplecanbestupid

Pakistan’s defence ministry told the country’s Supreme Court that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav was not given the right to appeal against his death sentence since the 2019 International Court of Justice verdict only demanded Islamabad grant India consular access to Jadhav read more

Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 in Balochistan on charges of spying and sentenced to death in April 2017. File Image

Pakistan’s defence ministry told the country’s Supreme Court that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been held in Pakistan over espionage charges, was not allowed the right to appeal. The statement from the Pakistani government came in response to the earlier argument that claimed the right to appeal was provided to Jadhav, but the same facility was not extended to Pakistani citizens convicted by military courts in the May 9 violence.

The ministry clarified that in light of the 2019 International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict, Jadhav was only provided consular access and not the right to appeal. The counsel of the defence ministry put forward the statement to the seven-judge Constitutional Bench on Wednesday, Dawn reported.

In 2019, the ICJ told Pakistan that the country was in breach of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 for not providing the facility of consular access to foreign nationals accused of spying. In response, Pakistan enacted the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Act 2021, adding the law to review and reconsider military court orders, including those related to foreign nationals. According to Dawn, lawyer Khawaja Haris Ahmed was representing the defence ministry during the hearing.

Jadhav was a former Navy officer who had taken early retirement and was running a business in Chabahar, Iran. He was allegedly abducted and detained in Pakistan on fabricated charges. Jadhav was eventually apprehended in the Chaman region near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on March 3, 2016.

In April 2017, a Pakistani military court sentenced him to death, accusing him of espionage and sabotage. At that time, India strongly condemned the judgement, referring to it as “premeditated murder”. Eventually, the ICJ intervened and halted the execution. The international tribunal went on to direct Pakistan to review the trial process and grant India consular access.

The question of Jadhav getting the right to appeal against his death sentence has been heavily debated in Pakistan as well. In March 2022, the Islamabad High Court observed that an Indian national can not be denied the right to a fair trial.

At that time, the court also asked the Indian government to ask an official of its mission in Pakistan to attend the hearings of the review petition filed against Jadhav’s conviction.

Not only this, the Pakistani National Assembly adopted a bill in June giving Kulbhushan Jadhav the right to appeal against the death sentence awarded by the military court. Hence, the recent statement from the Pakistani defence ministry appeared to be backtracking on the country’s previous stance after the ICJ verdict.

humtum6767 on April 20th, 2025 at 13:09 UTC »

I am sorry, but India is a very weak state. There are many ways for India to free this man as China and Russia have shown.

peoplecanbestupid on April 20th, 2025 at 10:46 UTC »

During a consular meeting on July 16, 2020, Indian officials were instructed not to hand over any documents to Jadhav, preventing the acquisition of a power of attorney necessary for legal proceedings. Subsequently, when India appointed a Pakistani lawyer to obtain the required documents, Pakistani authorities declined to provide them, effectively blocking the filing of a review petition.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied India unimpeded consular access to Jadhav, a right guaranteed under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The trial of Jadhav by a Pakistani military court has been criticized for lacking transparency and due process. India has described the proceedings as "farcical," noting that Jadhav was denied legal representation and that the charges against him were not clearly communicated. Furthermore, Pakistan's bar association reportedly threatened to revoke the license of any lawyer willing to represent Jadhav, effectively denying him a fair trial.

After the ICJ's ruling, Pakistan's foreign office stated that it does not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ in matters related to national security, despite the court's clear assertion of its authority in the case.

Pakistan claimed that Jadhav refused to file a review petition against his death sentence. However, India rejected this claim, alleging that Jadhav was coerced into foregoing his rights.

peoplecanbestupid on April 20th, 2025 at 10:30 UTC »

Submission statement: Despite the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) 2019 ruling mandating Pakistan to provide Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav with consular access and the right to appeal his death sentence, the Pakistani government has denied him this right.

In a recent statement to the Supreme Court, Pakistan's defence ministry claimed that the ICJ verdict only required consular access, not the right to appeal. This stance contradicts the ICJ's directive for "effective review and reconsideration" of Jadhav's conviction.

Although Pakistan enacted the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Act in 2021 to comply with the ICJ's judgment, the government's current position raises concerns about its commitment to international legal obligations.