His death sentence has become the latest flash point in the India-Pakistan ties.
In an emergency hearing swiftly organized on Monday, lawyers for New Delhi had urged the International Court of Justice to halt the execution of Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav.
Representing Pakistan, lawyer Khawar Qureshi said India has sought to persuade this court that Pakistan intends to execute Jadhav within days.
India is trying to save former Indian Navy officer from the death sentence pronounced by the military court in Pakistan alleging he was involved in espionage and anti-national activities. He said India’s application is misconceived and unnecessary.
Pakistan had denied India its 16 requests for consular access, Salve said.
Mittal, the Indian official, said the charges against Jadhav were “concocted” and his trial “farcical”.
The ICJ on Monday reserved judgment on the petition filed by India seeking to halt implementation of death sentence awarded by Pakistan to its spy Kulbhushan Yadav. The Vienna Convention was adopted for better communication between friendly countries.
India, till date, has not presented Jadhav’s birth certificate and passport, he added.
The case is likely to take months or years to resolve, so India is asking the world court to immediately order Pakistan to “take all measures necessary” to prevent Jadhav’s execution pending the final outcome. But, if the Court decides that the provisions of the Vienna Convention apply, then these arguments collapse spectacularly. Salve was requested by the government to argue the case because of his expertise in global affairs.
This is the second time that Pakistan and India have taken an issue to the International Court of Justice.
Pakistan responded that the court should decline jurisdiction in the case. There is no outright contradiction between the bilateral agreement and the Vienna Convention, suggesting that the scales may tip in India’s favour in the short-term. The bilateral agreement provides, somewhat ambiguously, that for arrests made on “political or security grounds”, the state may “examine the case on its merits”.
“It is clear from the Vienna Convention that the provision being sought under Article 36 by India can not be entertained by this court”, Qureshi said in his 45-minute reply to arguments put forth by Indian counsel Harish Salve earlier.
According to India, Jadhav was captured from Iran. “We submit that India’s silence is telling”. If we wanted, one of them could have been picked up.
Islamabad says that the United Nations court should decline jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, India’s complaint about denial of consular access may not be watertight.
