ISLAMABAD: The mercy petition of Indian nationalKulbhushan Jadhav link>
, sentenced to death on spying charges, is still pending with the Pakistanarmy chief for adjudication, the military said on Monday.
India had moved the Hague-basedICJ link>
in May last after Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistanimilitary court on charges of espionage and terrorism. A 10-member bench ofthe ICJ on May 18 had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav tilladjudication of the case.
Pakistan army spokesman said on Monday that the mercy petition of Jadhavwas still pending with Chief of Army StaffQamar Jawad Bajwa link>
.
“The mercy petition of Kulbhushan is with the Army Chief. It is his (COAS)prerogative to decide; whenever he wishes he can decide. But whenever thedecision is taken, we will inform about it,” saidMaj Gen Asif Ghafoor link>
, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – themedia wing of the army.
Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restiveBalochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.
However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he hadbusiness interests after retiring from the Navy. Jadhav’s sentencing hadevoked a sharp reaction in India.