Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Pakistan requests adjournment of case, ICJ refuses to entertain appeal

Kulbhushan Jadhav case hearing at ICJ (Day 2) : On day two of the hearing of Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Pakistan sought to adjourn the case, citing illness of its ad-hoc judge.

Pakistan's Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan submitting his arguments in Kulbhushan Jadhav's case before International Court of Justice (ICJ) today/ Image: ANI

New Delhi: On day two of the hearing of Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Pakistan sought to adjourn the case, citing illness of its ad-hoc judge. The top UN court, however, refused to entertain Pakistan’s adjournment request to appoint a new ad-hoc judge. The ad-hoc judge for Pakistan, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani could not be a part of the ICJ proceedings as he suffered a cardiac arrest ahead of the hearing. Pakistan's Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan is submitting his arguments today before the ICJ bench and at the start of the hearing asked the court to adjourn the proceedings till the time Pakistan can appoint a new judge "We applied our right provided to us that we can appoint an ad hoc judge” Khan said. “ But since our judge is indispensable at this point. In light of the above, Pakistan would like to place before the court that another judge to be sworn in which right has been provided under article 35-5 and the judge be given ample amount of time to go through the briefings before going ahead with arguments," he said. The ICJ court declined Pakistan’s plea and asked it to continue arguments in the absence of any ad-hoc judge. Under Article 31 of the Statute of the Court, a State party to a case before the International Court of Justice which does not have a judge of its nationality on the Bench may choose a person to sit as judge ad hoc in that specific case. It follows that the composition of the International Court of Justice will vary from one case to another, and that the number of judges sitting in a given case will not necessarily be 15. The four-day hearing in the Jadhav case opened Monday at the ICJ headquarters in The Hague amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group that killed at least 40 CRPF soldiers. India on Monday had based its case on two broad issues - breach of Vienna Convention on consular access and the process of resolution. It sought to nullify Pakistan’s military court verdict and appealed the court for annulment of Jadhav’s conviction. Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" after a closed trial in April 2017. His sentencing evoked a sharp reaction in India. India moved the ICJ in May the same year for the "egregious violation" of the provisions of the Vienna Convention by Pakistan by repeatedly denying New Delhi consular access to the 48-year-old Indian national.

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