18 May,2017 04:08 PM IST | The Hague | Agencies
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities
The Hague: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities.
Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the court, reading out the court verdict also asked Pakistan to inform it of all the measures it has taken to implement the order.
India on Monday had sought the court's intervention for an immediate suspension of Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case.
In a major boost to India, which has moved the UN's highest judicial body against the death sentence, the ICJ instructed Pakistan to take all "necessary measures at its disposal" to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it. The decision of the 11-judge bench was unanimous, ICJ President Ronny Abraham said while reading out the verdict. The ICJ said that India should have been granted consular access to its national as per the Vienna Convention to which both countries have been signatories since 1977.
The ICJ asserted its jurisdiction over the case of the 46-year-old former Indian Navy officer while noting that the circumstances of his arrest remain disputed. The ruling came three days after India and Pakistan gave their submissions in the case. Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.
Jadhav's case is the latest flashpoint in the tensions between Pakistan and India. On May 8, India moved the ICJ against the death penalty, alleging violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On May 9, the global court stayed the death sentence as a provisional measure.
India should have got consular access to Jadhav: ICJ The Hague, May 18 (PTI) Pakistan will take all necessary measures at its disposal to ensure that Indian prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav is not executed.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday said that India should have been granted consular access to its national Kulbhushan Jadhav as per the Vienna Convention. The ICJ asserted its jurisdiction over the case of Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by Pakistan on charges of espionage and subversive activities.
The circumstances of Jadhav's arrest remain disputed, ICJ president Ronny Abraham said while reading out his verdict. The 11-judge bench of the UN's highest court is presenting its verdict two days after India and Pakistan gave their submissions on the 46-year-old former Indian Navy officer.
Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested 46- year-old Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. The former Navy officer was arrested on March 3 last year and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court last month on charges of espionage and subversive activities.
Jadhav's case is the latest flash point in the tensions between Pakistan and India On May 8, India moved the ICJ against the death penalty, alleging violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. On May 9, the highest court in the UN gave Jadhav a lease of life.
India, in its appeal to the ICJ, had asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy. India denies that he has any connection with the government. Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province.
