Pakistan: Jadhav's defence: India not serious about appointment of legal counsel: IHC

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday noted that India is apparently not serious about appointment of a legal counsel to defend Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian spy and agent of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

The special larger bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq, and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, heard the government's plea seeking the appointment of a legal representative for Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav for filing his review petition against his death sentence.

The bench directed the federal government to contact the Indian government again regarding the matter. During the hearing, the IHC chief justice remarked that the Indian High Commission has not appointed a counsel yet despite being sent notices four times.

He added that the Indian government is apparently not serious in Jadhav's case. Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah said the attorney general could not appear before the IHC bench as he was busy with the hearing of the presidential reference in the Supreme Court (SC).

When the chief justice asked about the release of Indian prisoners, the DAG said that four Indian prisoners had been released, while the last Indian prisoner, Muhammad Ismail, would be released on January 22nd. The judge asked is the Indian government not serious in the case of Kulbhushan.

Then, he said that the government should once again contact India and ask whether it wants to pursue the Kulbhushan case or not. After issuing the aforementioned direction, the bench adjourned the hearing till February 3rd.

Previously, the IHC bench had observed that the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Indian spy Kulbhushan's case would be implemented in any case.

The IHC chief justice remarked that it is our responsibility to ensure a fair trial in the Kulbhushan case. In this matter, the federal government filed the petition regarding the death sentence of convicted Indian spy, Kulbhushan Jadhav, to implement the ICJ's decision to meet the requirements of a fair trial.

The Ministry of Law and Justice requested the court for appointment of legal representative for Kulbhushan Jadhav, so that he can file a review petition against his death sentence.

The government took the decision as the Indian spy has refused to file a review appeal against his death sentence. The Indian government has also refused to take advantage of Pakistan's review appeal facility.

The petition stated that the IHC should appoint a counsel to review and reconsider the verdict of the military court in accordance with the decision of the ICJ. The ministry cited Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of General Headquarters (GHQ) and the Ministry of Defense as respondents. It further stated that Jadhav had refused to file a review petition or an application to reconsider the verdict.

It added that he did not have independent sources to hire counsel to represent him. The petition said that Kulbhushan, who was involved in several terrorist activities in Pakistan, refused to file plea against his sentence.

The agent could not appoint lawyer in Pakistan without assistance from India. On July 16, Pakistan offered India third consular access to Jadhav as the day before Indian diplomats walked out of the meeting without hearing him.

In this regard, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had said that Pakistan was willing to provide another consular access to India without the presence of security personnel.

In July 2019, the ICJ ruled that Pakistan must grant consular access to India without any delay and at the same called for the "effective review and reconsideration" of the Jadhav's case.

Commander Jadhav, who was arrested in March 2016 in a counter-intelligence operation from Balochistan, was sentenced to death by a military court a year later. His mercy petition had been pending before the army chief.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021