India rejects new Pakistani law in Kulbhushan Jadhav case

New Delhi, Nov 18 (UNI) India on Thursday rejected as ineffective a Pakistani law passed to give Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav the right to appeal against his conviction, in accordance with the directive of the International Court of Justice, and said Islamabad has continued to deny unimpeded and unhindered consular access to the death row prisoner and failed to create an atmosphere in which a fair trial can be conducted.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, said that India has repeatedly called upon Pakistan to abide by the letter and spirit of the ICJ judgement.

In a statement, he said: “We have seen reports of Pakistan enacting into law the earlier ordinance that was ostensibly enacted to bring into effect the judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

“Nothing could have been further from the truth. As stated earlier, the ordinance did not create the machinery for an effective review and reconsideration of Shri Jadhav’s case as mandated by the judgement of the ICJ.

“The Law simply codifies the shortcomings of the previous ordinance.
“Pakistan continues to deny unimpeded and unhindered consular access to Shri Jadhav and has failed to create an atmosphere in which a fair trial can be conducted.

“India has repeatedly called upon Pakistan to abide by the letter and spirit of the ICJ judgement.”

On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Parliament in a joint sitting passed a bill to give Jadhav, who is on death row, the right to appeal against his conviction, in accordance with the directive of the International Court of Justice.

The International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2020 — was moved by Minister for Law and Justice Dr Muhammad Farogh Nasim in a joint session of the House.
The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says the Government of India initiated proceedings against Pakistan in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963 ”in the matter of detention and trial of an Indian national, Commander Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav”, who had been sentenced to death by the Military Court in Pakistan in April 2017.

The ICJ gave its judgment on 17th July, 2019 in which it observed that “Pakistan is under an obligation to provide by means of its own choosing effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr Jadhav, so as to ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth in Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, taking account of paragraphs 139, 145 and 146 of this judgment”.

In June this year, the Pakistan National Assembly passed the ICJ (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2020, among 21 other bills, but the Senate refused to pass them.

The Pakistan government promulgated a special ordinance in 2019 in the wake of the ICJ verdict.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India approached the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) challenging the death sentence.