ICJ to rule today on appeal to stay Jadhav’s execution

JADHAV’S FATE HAS REMAINED UNCERTAIN AS THE ICJ DEFERRED ITS RULING ON INDIA’S PETITION TO STOP HIS EXECUTION

NEW DELHI: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will rule on Thursday on an Indian appeal for a stay on the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistan, news agency PTI said quoting government sources. The verdict is set to be announced at 3:30pm (IST).

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on espionage charges.Pakistan says Jadhav, 46, was arrested in the restive Balochistan province.

In April, a military court sentenced him to death for alleged involvement in spying and subversive activities. India contended he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar and his trial was a “farce”.

India argued during the hearing at the ICJ at The Hague on Monday that Pakistan had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) by not granting consular access to Jadhav even after 16 requests were made. Jadhav’s fate has remained uncertain as the ICJ deferred its ruling on India’s petition to stop his execution. Pakistan said in its presentation that consular access could not be granted as Jadhav was a “terrorist” and that India had “invoked the jurisdiction of this court improperly”.

UK-based lawyer Khawar Qureshi, who appeared for Pakistan, said a 2008 bilateral agreement allows both countries to decide on consular access in matters involving “political or security” issues. The Pakistani side suffered a setback when the ICJ turned down its request to play the purported “confessional” video of Jadhav at the hearing. A video wall was set up by the Pakistani side but the court upheld the Indian team’s objection to any playback.

The two countries last faced off at the ICJ in 1999, when Pakistan approached the court over the shooting down by India of an Atlantique surveillance aircraft that killed 16 people. India had then used its declaration of 1974, which states the UN court would have no jurisdiction in disputes between Commonwealth states,