Pak forcing Jadhav against filing review petition, says India
New Delhi’s response came after Pak claimed Jadhav had refused to file an appeal in high court against the death sentence
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: India on Wednesday accused Pakistan of coercing Kulbushan Jadhav, a former naval officer sentenced to death on charges of spying, not to file a petition seeking a review of his case and of not complying with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) verdict to review his conviction.
New Delhi’s response came hours after senior officials in the Pakistani capital claimed Jadhav had refused to file an appeal in the Islamabad high court against the death sentence given by a military court despite an offer to do so. Pakistan also offered consular access to Jadhav and to arrange a meeting between him and his father and wife, though there was no immediate response from the Indian side.
Jadhav was arrested by Pakistani
security agencies in Balochistan in March 2016 and charged with involvement in spying. In April 2017, Pakistan announced he had been sentenced to death by a military court. The ICJ ruled in July 2019 that Pakistan had violated Jadhav’s rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and stayed his execution while calling on Islamabad to take all steps for an “effective review and reconsideration” of his sentence, including “enacting appropriate legislation”.
The Pakistan government promulgated an ordinance on May 20 allowing Jadhav, his legal representative or the Indian government to file a review petition in the Islamabad high court within 60 days, which will end on July 19, additional attorney general Ahmed Irfan and Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry, director general (South Asia) in the Foreign Office, told a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.
“Exercising his legal right...Jadav refused to file a petition for the review and reconsideration of his sentence and conviction. He instead preferred to follow up his pending mercy petition,” said Irfan, adding Pakistan has written to the Indian mission to file a petition in the high court before the deadline.