A Pakistan High Court will hear the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on Tuesday. Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April 2017.
Pakistan’s Islamabad High Court (IHC) had in its September 3 order directed the federal government to give India another opportunity to appoint a lawyer to represent Jadhav.
Attorney general Khalid Javed Khan told the court on September 3 that to comply with the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Pakistan granted consular access to India, however, it has not replied to Pakistan’s offer to appoint a lawyer for him.
Following the IHC’s recent order, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said on September 11 that India had been informed about the court’s order.
“Yes, we have conveyed the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to India through diplomatic channels. We have not yet received a response from the Indian side,” he said, PTI reported.
After Jadhav was sentenced to death by Pakistan’s military court, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence.
The Hague-based ICJ ruled in July last year that Pakistan must undertake an “effective review and reconsideration” of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay.
Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016, after he reportedly entered from Iran. India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.