Pakistan Claims Kulbhushan Jadhav Refused To File Review Petition; Islamabad Grants Second Consular Access

Jadhav is a retired Indian Navy officer. Pakistan had alleged that Jadhav was a senior Indian intelligence officer who entered the country illegally to carry out acts of sabotage at the time of his arrest.

(File Photo/ AFP)

New Delhi: Pakistan on Wednesday claimed that the captured Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on a death row, has refused to file a review petition in the Islamabad High Court against his death sentence handed down by a Pakistani Army court in April 2017. As per the claims made by Pakistani officials, Jadhav has decided to go ahead with his pending mercy plea. "On June 17, 2020, Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav was invited to file a petition for review and reconsideration of his sentence and conviction. Exercising his legal right he refused to file a petition for review and reconsideration of his sentence and conviction," Pakistan Additional Attorney General Ahmed Irfan claimed earlier today. During a press conference, the official said that Jadhav insisted on the mercy petition he filed on April 17, 2017. Kulbhushan Jadhav, 49, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" in April 2017. As per the claims made by Pakistani media, Pakistan government has offered second consular access to Jadhav after India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence. In May this year, Pakistan had said that it has "fully compiled" with the ICJ's judgement in Jadhav case, days after India's lead counsel asserted that New Delhi had hoped it might be able to persuade Islamabad through "back channel" to release the Indian death-row convict. Senior advocate Harish Salve was the lead counsel for India in the Jadhav case at the Hague-based ICJ which ruled in July last year that Pakistan must undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay. Jadhav is a retired Indian Navy officer. Pakistan had alleged that Jadhav was a senior Indian intelligence officer who entered the country illegally to carry out acts of sabotage at the time of his arrest. Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested him from the restive Balochistan province in March, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran were he had his business after retiring from the Navy.