On Thursday afternoon, the International Court of Justice ordered Pakistan to make sure Kulbhushan Jadhav will not be executed until it gives a final verdict. The court is yet to come to a final decision on India’s charge against Pakistan for violating obligations under the international treaty. This treaty guarantees diplomatic help to foreigners who are accused in a different country for capital crimes.
The UN court ruled “Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings.” This is a unanimous and binding decision. It also said Pakistan must allow India to have consular access to Jadhav. The Court also rejected the appeal by Pakistan which said a person accused of espionage is not entitled to consular access.
The bench of 11 judges also agreed with India about the emergency situation in the case and recorded Pakistan has not assured of not executing Jadhav till the final verdict is pronounced. In a tribunal submitted to the UN apex court, India said Jadhav was “an innocent Indian national, who, incarcerated in Pakistan for more than a year on concocted charges, has been held incommunicado and faces imminent execution.” However, Pakistan denied these claims and said Mr. Jadhav “has confessed to having been sent by India to wage terror on the innocent civilians and infrastructure of Pakistan.”
In 1999, India and Pakistan were at ICJ, when Islamabad protested the shooting down of a navy plane that killed 16. In that case, the tribunal said that it was not competent to rule and closed the case.
But in an interim verdict in Jadhav’s case, the Court ruled Pakistan should put a pause on their decision till the final verdict is pronounced.
