:-Snehi suryash
India’s neighbour Pakistan government on Friday defended the ordinance promulgated to enable Kulbhushan Jadhav to file review petition against his death sentence. A move to stop India from going to the UN against Islamabad.
Law Minister Farogh Naseem’s remarks came a day after the Opposition criticised government for “facilitating” Jadhav through a special law
Alleging that the meeting of Consular officers with Jadhav on July 16 was scuttled by authorities, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava. Also stated that Pakistan adopted a “farcical approach” in handling the case. He further added that India tried to file a petition on July 18, despite of impeded and hindered access. However, the review petition couldn’t be filed in absence of power of attorney and supporting documents related to the case.
Pakistan on 16th July didn’t allow Indian diplomats to carry the ” power of attorney ” legal document to be signed by Jadhav. Pakistan had earlier this month said July 20 was the last date of filing a review petition against death sentence.
“Pakistan advised to India that the relevant documents could be handed over only to an authorised Pakistani lawyer. Thereafter, India appointed Pakistani lawyer to obtain the relevant documents. And when the authorised Pakistani lawyer approached the concerned authorities, they declined to handover the documents to the lawyer.” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava says on Thursday.
He said that Pakistan also created “confusion” over the last date of filing a petition.
Pakistan on 20thJuly passed an Ordinance to allow for a HC to review the sentence awarded by their military court. Pakistan took two weeks to inform about this Ordinance & shared copy of the Ordinance only after India requested the same. India has conveyed that the Ordinance neither fulfills nor does it give complete weight to the judgment of the ICJ.
Mr.Srivastava also stated that
the Ordinance reflects regards to the Ordinance non-serious approach of Pakistan. And lack of interest in implementing the judgment of the ICJ in letter and spirit. It blocked all the avenues for an effective remedy available. He stated that India will explore further options in the cascas MEA spokesperson said Pakistan is not only in violation of the judgment of ICJ, but also of its own Ordinance.
The 50-year-old retired Indian Navy officer was sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court. Jadhav was charged of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India approached International Court of Justice against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence. The Hague-based ICJ ruled in July 2019 that Pakistan must undertake an “effective review and reconsideration” of his death sentence & also to grant consular access India without further delay.
In a unilateral move, Pakistan government filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday, seeking appointment of a “legal representative” for Jadhav. However, the main parties, including the government of India, were not consulted ahead of the filing of the application by the Ministry of Law and Justice under the ordinance. To which, Indian government said that the access was “neither meaningful nor credible”.
