WEB DESK
India today took legal recourse to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by instituting proceedings against Pakistan to save Kulbhushan Jadhav.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague in Netherlands today heard India’s appeal against death sentencing of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is locked in Pakistan’s prison.
The ICJ last Tuesday stayed the execution order against Jadhav, passed by a Pakistani military court.
India’s claims against Pakistan mainly relied on Article 36 of the Vienna Convention which allows consular access to foreign nationals. Islamabad has repeatedly turned down New Delhi’s request for consular access to Jadhav who is jailed in Pakistan & given death sentence by a military court last month.
Counsel for India and senior advocate Harish Salve represented the Republic of India before ICJ in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
He said that India is entitled to rights under article 36 which are sacrosanct, and, Pakistan has not abided by these rules.
Representing India’s stand before the 11-judge bench of the international justice body, India’s agent to the court, Deepak Mittal said that despite repeated requests, Pakistan denied consular access to Kulbhushan, which is in contravention of Vienna convention.
Kulbhushan was kidnapped from Iran, where he was carrying on business after retiring from the Indian Navy.India has denied all these charges and told ICJ that the military court’s action against Jadhav was violative of the Vienna Convention and Human Rights.
India has made 16 requests for consular access to Jadhav but there was no response from Pakistan on the demand.
This is the second time India has approached the ICJ. Earlier in 1971, India had moved the Hague-based world court when it questioned the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s powers to decide Pakistan’s complaint about New Delhi denying its airlines from flying over India.