Jadhav Trial ‘Farcical’ Says India, Indian Case ‘Theatre’ Says Pak
The public hearings on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case will be held at the Great Hall of Justice in The Hague.
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India asked World Court judges on Monday to order Pakistan to stay the execution ofIndian citizen Kulbhushan Jadhav, who Islamabad says is a captured spy, in a case that has escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
India argued in a preliminary hearing at the UN court, formally known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), that Pakistan violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by denying the condemned man access to legal and other assistance from India.
Pakistan responded that the court should decline jurisdiction in the case.
Monday's hearings focused on India's request for so-called "provisional measures" that can be granted at short notice to ensure a dispute between states does not deteriorate during full ICJ proceedings, which typically take several years.
India's representative at the ICJ hearing, Deepak Mittal, described the charges against Jadhav as "concocted" and his trial as "farcical."
Responding, Pakistan’s agent before the court, Mohammad Faisal, said India’s complaint was "political theatre" and the court "should not exercise any jurisdiction in the case".
The court said it would set a date for ruling "as soon as possible".
Salve Responds to Pakistan's Presentation
Speaking to Times Now, Indian counsel Harish Salve took a dig at Pakistan and said he couldn’t fathom what Pakistani counsel meant when he said that India hasn’t proven Jadhav’s nationality, while at the same time maintaining that Jadhav was an Indian spy sent by India.
The date of the order will be communicated to concerned parties as soon as possible, the ICJ said.
'What Has India Done to Prove Jadhav is Indian', Asks Qureshi
He also referred to old cases where India had questioned the jurisdiction of the court. He said the country which wishes to gain consular access to an individual has the onus to establish that the individual is a national of that particular country.
With regard to the Vienna Convention that Indian counsel Harish Salve had accused Pakistan of breaching, Qureshi said the Vienna Convention doesn’t apply in cases of espionage and terrorism.
Pakistan’s counsel QC Khawar Qureshi now addressing the ICJ bench.
Khawar Qureshi said that Pakistan was made to appear before the ICJ at short notice. He told the court that the matter is not urgent, but was made to look so by India.
“India claims Jadhav's trial was rushed and that he could be executed summarily. None of that is true," Qureshi told the ICJ. Qureshi asked the court to dismiss India’s application, accusing India of using the ICJ as a stage for political theatre.
Qureshi said Pakistan argued that counsular access is not an absolute right under the Vienna treaty, and that a 2008 bilateral treaty between India and Pakistan supercedes it anyway.
He said that Pakistan did not impose any conditionality on consular access but that consular access to India by Pakistan would be decided on merit.
Pakistan Presents its Case
Speaking before a bench of 11 judges at the International Court of Justice, Mohammad Faisal, DG of SAARC, said that having witnessed a lot of terrorist events in Pakistani soil, the country knows how hatred can lead to violence.
Calling India’s application against the death sentence ‘unnecessary’, Faisal said:
Faisal showed Jadhav’s passport to the bench and asked how Kulbhushan Jadhav came to have a Muslim name (Hussein Mubarak Patel) in the passport. He also said that the video where “Jadhav is confessing voluntarily” is free for anyone to watch.
The ICJ, however, refused to see the six-minute long alleged confessional video.
Will Bring Justice: Harish Salve
Speaking to reporters after presenting India’s case at The Hague, Harish Salve said that the best case scenario for India will be to bring justice for Jadhav.
ICJ Adjourned
The International Court of Justice will be meeting again at 6:30 (IST) today. India has presented its case first. Pakistan will present its case later in the day. Both sides will be permitted 90 minutes each to argue their case.
Tomorrow, the ICJ, which is the UN's principal judicial organ, is holding a public hearing at the Great Hall of Justice housed in the Peace Palace at The Hague in Netherlands where the two countries will be asked to present their case over the contentious Jadhav issue.
Harish Salve Addresses The Hague
Senior counsel representing India, Harish Salve addressed The Hague and reiterated that Pakistan had refused to provide consular access to Jadhav or provide a copy of the charges filed against Jadhav.
The present situation, Salve said before the court, was grave and that is why India had sought its indulgence. He described Jadhav's trial process as "farcical" and stressed that Pakistan did not respond to Jadhav's mother's plea to see her son.
He said that India relies on the Vienna Convention breaching which is fatal. He also expressed his fears about Kulbhushan Jadhav being executed before India’s arguments are heard in the case.
He pleaded to the international court of justice to ensure that the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan report to this court the actions it has taken and make sure that none of its actions may be prejudiced the rights of the Republic of india and Kulbhushan Yadav.
Hearing at ICJ Begins
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has begun hearing both the Indian and Pakistani side in the Kulbhushan Jadhav death penalty case.
India will be presenting its case first, followed by Pakistan later in the day. Both sides will get 90 minutes each. India may avail a "short extension" beyond 90 minutes to present its case, the judge said in his opening remarks.
India calls for immediate suspension of Jadhav's sentence and accuses Pakistan of violating Vienna Convention of consular access. All requests for consular access to Jadhav fell on "deaf ears", said India.
“We want appropriate legal representation for Kulbhushan Jadhav,” India told ICJ.
Battleground Hague
Public hearings for the Kulbhushan Jadhav case began at the Great Hall of Justice housed in the Peace Palace at The Hague in Netherlands on Monday.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the UN's principal judicial organ, was last a battleground for India and Pakistan nearly 18 years ago, when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft, Atlantique.
India’s Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said India has a very good case. “It is clear Pakistan has violated all rules, both in trial and human rights,” he told ANI.
ICJ Stays Execution
On 10 May, the ICJ halted the death sentence handed to Jadhav, sending a letter to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Senior advocate Harish Salve represented India before the ICJ.
The move came two days after India moved a petition before the UN body, on 8 May, seeking justice for Jadhav, alleging violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by Pakistan, after its 16 requests for consular access to the former naval officer were denied. Pakistan has also not responded to the request for visas applied by Jadhav's family.
Jadhav was arrested on 3 March 2016. In April this year, a Pakistani military court awarded death sentence to Jadhav for alleged espionage and subversive activities.
Pakistan’s Strategy
Pakistan has been preparing a strategy to "forcefully" defend its position.
Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf, who held marathon meetings for two days with the officials of the Foreign Office and the Law Ministry, will be representing Pakistan before the ICJ on 15 May.
An expert on international law said Pakistan could raise the issue of jurisdiction before the ICJ, citing the 1999 Atlantique aircraft case, in which India had refused to accept the court's jurisdiction on the pretext that it could not hear cases related to disputes between the Commonwealth countries.
India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the Navy but denies that he has any connection with the government. India also said that Jadhav, who was running a business, was kidnapped from Iran.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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