The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has given India and Pakistan time till September 13 and December 13, respectively to file their written submissions in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The proceedings in the case will begin from January 2018.
India has dragged Pakistan to Hague-based ICJ on the grounds that it violated the agreement under Vienna Convention on Consular Access by denied Indian side an opportunity to meet Jadhav who is in Pakistan custody since March 2016.
A Pakistan military court had awarded death sentence to Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, in April this year for alleged involvement in espionage and terrorist activities, an allegation that India has contested strongly. India claims Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran. However, despite India’s repeated request to seek Consular Access and get certified copies of Jadhav’s sentence along with a
copy of chargesheet
Pakistan has not responded favourably.
India went to ICJ and sought stay on the execution of Jadhav’s death penalty. In a hearing of the case on May 18, a 10-member Bench of the ICJ restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav On June 8, the ICJ President called the agents of both countries to discuss the procedure of the case. ICJ has asked India to make its submissions by September 13 while Pakistan will have to make its counter-submission by December 13 this year.
In a separate development, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution condemning the human rights situation in Pakistan. It also criticised Pakistan government for breaching international law by not allowing consular access to Jadhav. It also called Pakistan to reinstate its moratorium on the death penalty, with the ultimate goal of full abolition.