India on Thursday said that the law passed by the Pakistan Parliament on Wednesday, allowing death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav the right to appeal has the same shortcomings as the earlier ordinance and is far from addressing the ICJ (International Court of Justice) judgement.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told media persons, “The law simply codifies the shortcomings of the previous ordinance.” “We have seen reports of Pakistan enacting into law the earlier ordinance that was ostensibly enacted to bring into effect the judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case,” he said.
“Nothing could have been further from the truth. As stated earlier, the ordinance did not create the machinery for an effective review and reconsideration of Shri Jadhav’s case as mandated by the judgement of the ICJ,” Bagchi added.
Pakistan on Wednesday passed a bill at a Parliament joint session to give Jadhav the right to appeal against his death sentence as per the decision of the ICJ. Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India had approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence.
Bagchi also said that Pakistan “continues to deny unimpeded and unhindered consular access to Shri Jadhav and has failed to create an atmosphere in which a fair trial can be conducted”.
“India has repeatedly called upon Pakistan to abide by the letter and spirit of the ICJ judgement,” the MEA spokesperson added.
Pakistan had in June this year adopted a bill to give the right of appeal to Jadhav as per the ICJ ruling. But India had at the time asked Pakistan to address the “shortcomings” in the bill, saying the proposed law does not create a mechanism to reconsider it as mandated by the ICJ.
India had also said the Review and Reconsideration Bill 2020 does not create a mechanism to facilitate effective review and reconsideration of Jadhav’s case as mandated by the judgement of the ICJ and the municipal courts cannot be the arbiter of whether a state has fulfilled its obligations in international law.
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