India irked by strong response from Pakistan over Kulbhushan Jhadav case in ICJ
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HAGUE - Second round of hearing has started in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, who is on a death row in Pakistan prison. In the starting of submission, India's counsel Harish Salve took strong objection to Pakistan's language in the court on Tuesday.
Harish Salve said that the section 36 of the Geneva convention comes into place in Jadhav's case. Salve said that Pakistan cited the Avena case, but that says that if a detainee is foreign national, consular access has to be provided.
He also called out Pakistan's effort to put Jadhav's confession' in ICJ.
Salve said a bilateral agreement doesn't mean Article 36 of the Vienna convention becomes non-existent.
In a rebuke to Pakistan, Salve said, " Jadhav has become a pawn in Pakistan's tool to divert international scrutiny from itself". He mentioned the 26/11 case and questioned why the trial in that case hasn't been completed so far. India also pointed out how the Kasav trial was held with all due procedures followed.
Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" after a closed trial in April 2017. His sentencing evoked a sharp reaction in India.
At the end of second day's hearing, Pakistani Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan requested to adjourn the hearing of Kulbhushan Jadhav till a new judge from his country is appointed to replace Tassaduq Hussain Jillani – the present ad-hoc judge from Pakistan at the ICJ.
He reportedly had suffered “cardiac arrest” during the hearing on Monday. The ICJ President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf asked it to continue argument in the absence of the ad-hoc judge. “I would like to ask you to read your statement if your statement is ready. We are ready to hear you and hear your side,” the ICJ President told the Pakistani Attorney General.
The hearing in the Jadhav case opened on Monday amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of Pulwama terror attacks.
On Monday, India had highlighted that Jadhav was being used as a “pawn” by Pakistan to build a narrative against New Delhi. While arguing the case on behalf of India, former Indian Solicitor General Harish Salve urged the ICJ to annul Jadhav's death sentence as the verdict by a Pakistani military court was based on a “farcical case”.