Pakistan seeks early hearing of Kulbhushan Yadav case in ICJ against Indian wishes

ISLAMABAD: President of International Court of Justice, Ronny Abraham and delegations of Pakistan andIndia in a meeting discussed the timelines in the Commander Jadhavcase on Thursday.According to a statement issued from Attorney General of Pakistan’s office, the meeting in the presence of the Registrarof the Court and other court officials, the procedural modalities were discussed. This was not a hearing and no discussion on the substance or merits of the case took place. The purpose of the meeting was only to discussprocedural matters including the time-lines for submission of written Memorials and to enable a hearing to be listed.The delegation of Pakistan was led by the Ashtar Ausaf Ali, the Attorney General for Pakistan. Other members of the delegation included Dr. Mohammad Faisal, Director General for SouthAsia in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmad Irfan Aslam, Head of International Disputes Unit in the Office of the Attorney General, Khawar Qureshi QC, Counsel for Pakistan.The President of the Court sought the views of the parties as to time required for the submission of their writtenpleadings and supporting evidence called Memorials. The Attorney General urged the Court to adopt an expedited timetable with a view for an early substantive hearing. The Court willannounce the timetable shortly.The Attorney General informed the International Court of Justice of Pakistan’s intent to appoint a judge Ad Hoc who will sit on the bench of the Court for all proceedings in this case,including the substantive hearing.The Indian application seeks ‘at least release or acquittal’ of Commander Jadhav. As was made clear by Pakistan’s Counsel, Khawar Qureshi QC on 15 May 2017, India can never obtain this from the ICJ.As has also been explained previously, the Court on 18 May 2017made a procedural order to enable a full hearing to take place. It did not make any finding on jurisdiction or merits. Pakistan’s arguments on jurisdiction and merits will be considered by the Court at the full hearing.As can be seen from paragraph 60 of the Court order of 18th May 2017 itself , the Court stated that that it “in noway prejudged jurisdiction, admissibility or merits.”The Government of Pakistan is fully confident that India can never succeed in its application. India can never obtain acquittal or release of Commander Jadhav on the basis of its application to the international court.