New Delhi submits written pleadings to ICJ in Jadhav death penalty case

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday submitted its written pleadings to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is hearing the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired Indian navy officer sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court allegedly for espionage and subversive activities.

The ICJ has suspended the death sentence of Jadhav pending final judgement by it after India moved the court in May, requesting immediate suspension of the sentence.

“India has, today, submitted its Memorial (written pleadings) to the ICJ in the Jadhav case involving egregious violation of Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 by Pakistan. This is in furtherance of our application filed before ICJ on May 8,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan in March last. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had legal business interests after retiring from the navy.

On May 8, India moved the ICJ for instituting proceedings against Pakistan for violations of the Vienna Convention “in the matter of the detention and trial of an Indian National, Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav”, sentenced to death in Pakistan and requested immediate suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused.