International Court of Justice stays Jadhav’s execution
NEW DELHI: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday stayed the hanging of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “spying”.
The order by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) came a day after India approached it against the death sentence handed down to J ad h av by Pakistan’s Field General Court Martial last month, official sources said.
India, in its appeal to the ICJ, accused Pakistan of “egregious” violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy but Pakistan claimed to have arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.
Following India’s appeal, the ICJ stayed Jadhav’s execution. India, in its appeal, contended that it was not informed of Jadhav’s detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights.
It further asserted that in vio- lation of the Vienna Convention, the Pakistani authorities were denying India its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite repeated requests. “Referring to the extreme gravity and immediacy of the threat that authorities in Pakistan will execute an Indian citizen in violation of obligations Pakistan owes to India, India urges the Court to deliver an order indicating provisional measures immediately, ‘without waiting for an oral hearing,” India’s appeal said.
Reacting to the development, external affairs minister Sushma Swar aj said :“I have spoken to Ku lb hus han’ s mother and told her about the order of ICJ president under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court.”
“Senior advocate Harish Salve is representing India before the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case,” she tweeted.