ISLAMABAD: Minister for Law Farogh Naseem Friday dispelled the impression that the Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav is being given a concession "similar to former military leader Pervez Musharraf's National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)."
Naseem, after taking oath as the Federal Minister for Law, was responding to the opposition's concerns at the National Assembly where the opposition parties Thursday blocked the government's move to lay before the House an ordinance aimed at providing the legal right of review and reconsideration to the Indian spy against his conviction by a military court.
Pakistan, being a responsible state has promulgated the ordinance to give effect to the July 17, 2019 judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Kulbhushan Jadhav case, he added.
He stated that the ICJ, in its verdict, had asked Pakistan for effective review and reconsideration of the sentence of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav announced by the military court of Pakistan on charges of espionage and terrorism.
"It is obligatory for Pakistan to comply with the ICJ judgment. Otherwise, India is hell-bent to approach UN Security Council to get imposed sanctions against Pakistan through a resolution," the law minister said. He further explained that the ordinance does not call for setting aside the decision of the military court and it is only aimed at complying with the ICJ judgment.
"Where is it written in the ordinance that the conviction has ended?" asked the minister, adding that nowhere was it written that the government needs to speak to the opposition before promulgating an ordinance.
"The ordinance was not produced by anyone from "under a pillow" and no one should be blamed for it," he asserted.
The minister stressed that the ordinance should be passed by the Parliament to make it a law, adding that it is neither an NRO similar to the one promulgated by Gen (retired) Musharraf, an appeal nor a person-specific legislation.
He further stated that the ordinance was not person-specific and if it became a law, it would also be applicable for any such situation in future giving the right to a person guilty of espionage to file an appeal in the court for effective review instead of taking the matter to the ICJ.
The law minister said that Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016 and the then PML-N government had decided not to grant consular access to him for the reason of his involvement in espionage.
On May 8, 2017, he added that India approached the ICJ, and asked the court to direct Pakistan to release Jadhav.
However, the ICJ rejected India's appeal but directed Pakistan to grant consular access to the convicted Indian spy.
Earlier, on Thursday, the opposition had accused the PTI government for giving an "NRO" to the Indian spy through the ordinance, and blocked the move to lay it before the House after a strong protest.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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