New Delhi: Pakistan’s claim that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by its top military court, has refused review of his case and wants to appeal for mercy, is sufficient proof of its “reticence” to execute the order of the International Court of Justice in “letter and spirit”, India said today.
Hours later, India responded sharply and said Pakistan’s claim that Jadhav has refused to initiate review petition is a “continuation of the farce” in play for the last four years. “Pakistan is only seeking to create an illusion of remedy,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Wednesday.
In July last year, the International Court of Justice said Pakistan must review the death sentence of Kulbhushan Jadhav, and it should remain suspended meanwhile.
The court also agreed with India’s stand that Pakistan had violated the Vienna convention by denying him consular access to him after a closed trial in which he was convicted.
At a media conference Wednesday, Pakistan’s Attorney General Ahmed Irfan said Kulbhushan Jadhav was invited to file a review petition June 17. But he “preferred to follow up on his pending mercy petition,” he said. Pakistan has offered him a second consular access, he added.
“Kulbhushan Jadhav has been sentenced to execution through a farcical trial. He remains under custody of Pakistan’s military. He has clearly been coerced to refuse to file a review in his case,” the foreign ministry said.
“In a brazen attempt to scuttle even the inadequate remedy under the Ordinance, Pakistan has obviously coerced Shri Jadhav to forego his rights to seek an implementation of the judgment of the ICJ,” the ministry stated.
PNN/Agencies