Jadhav case hearing today

The Hague: Amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions, top legal eagles of the two countries will present their arguments in the high-profile Kulbhushan Jadhav case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from Monday during four days of public hearings. India moved the ICJ in May, 2017, against the “farcical trial” by the military court of Pakistan against 48-year-old Jadhav.

The Hague, Feb. 17: Amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions, top legal eagles of the two countries will present their arguments in the high-profile Kulbhushan Jadhav case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from Monday during four days of public hearings.

Mr Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.

India moved the ICJ in May the same year against the “farcical trial” by the military court of Pakistan against 48-year-old Jadhav.

India first approached the ICJ on May 8, 2017 for the “egregious violation” of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 by Pakistan by repeatedly denying it consular access to Mr Jadhav.

A 10-member bench of the ICJ, which was set up after World War II to resolve international disputes, on May 18, 2017 had restrained Pakistan from executing Mr Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing in the high-profile case from Febraury 18 to 21 in The Hague.

The hearings at the ICJ will take place four days after one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 41 CRPF soldiers.

The terror attack happened when a suicide bomber of Pakistanbacked Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near a convoy of CRPF buses in Pulwama district on Thursday.

While India will argue first on February 18, Pakistan will get its chance to make submissions on February 19.

Then India will reply on February 20 while Islamabad will make its closing submissions on February 21. It is expected that the ICJ’s decision may be delivered by the summer of 2019.