Pakistan’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice approved a government bill on Wednesday, 21 October that seeks a review of the conviction of Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Jadhav has been sentenced to death by a military court for alleged involvement in spying, reported PTI.
The draft bill titled the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance was introduced in compliance with directives of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), despite resistance by the opposition.
Federal Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem argued that in case the bill was not adopted by parliament, Pakistan could face sanctions for not complying with the ICJ’s verdict, PTI reported.
Naseem said his ministry had sought to “preempt a possible Indian move” of filing a contempt petition against Pakistan in the ICJ by promulgating the ordinance and clarified that neither India nor Jadhav had filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court to seek relief permissible under the ICJ verdict, reported Hindustan Times.
Opposition members requested chairman Riaz Fatyana to reject the bill, JUI-F Party member Aliya Kamran accused Imran Khan administration of legislating on behalf of New Delhi. She said that the bill should be debated in public, reported PTI.
Kulbhushan Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.
In 2017, India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan for denying consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence given to him by a military court.
(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times.)
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