Pakistan Court Says Kulbhu­shan Jadhav Has Right To Fair Trial, Asks India To Appoint Lawyer By April 13

In November 2021, Pakistan's Parliament enacted a law to give Kulbhu­shan Jadhav the right to file a review appeal against his conviction by the military court.

Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav | PTI Photo

New Delhi: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday observed that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav cannot be denied the "right to a fair trial".

"Since convicted Indian spy Kulbhu­shan Jadhav is a human being, he cannot be denied the right to a fair trial," said Islamabad High Court as per a report by Pakistan News Daily Dawn. 

IHC directed India, through its diplomatic mission in Pakistan, to appoint a lawyer for death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav by April 13 to argue a review of his conviction case. 

Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.

Based on the sentence, India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav challenging his death sentence. 

Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan informed IHC as per the Inter­national Court of Justice (Review and Recon­sidera­tion) Act 2021 a consular officer of the mission of the state concerned may file a petition before a court for review of a conviction handed down by a military court to its citizen in another country.

Khan also told the court that India was consciously delaying the case so that it could get a chance to knock at the doors of the ICJ with the complaint that Pakistan was in violation of its judgement to provide an opportunity of review to Jadhav.

In November 2021, Pakistan's Parliament enacted a law to give Jadhav the right to file a review appeal against his conviction by the military court.

(With PTI Inputs)