Kulbhushan Jadhav Case

KULBHUSHAN JADHAV CASE

Kulbhushan Jadhav was allegedly arrested in the Chaman area of Balochistan on the Pakistan-Afganistan border. India believed that Kulbhushan Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran and his subsequent presence in Pakistan has never been explained credibly. Kulbhushan Jadhav was sentenced to death in a Field General Court Martial after he was found guilty on charges of espionage.

India had dragged Pakistan to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for refusing consular access to Jadhav and for violating the Vienna Convention on consular relations.

India accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention and conducting a “farcical trial” for convicting Jadhav without a “shred of evidence”.

India’s argument at ICJ

• Kulbhushan Jadhav has not got the right to get proper legal assistance and the right to consular access.

• The execution of the death sentence cannot be done while this court is hearing the appeal. Else, it will be a violation of the Vienna Convention.

• Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring prematurely from the Indian Navy.

Pakistan’s argument at the ICJ

There is no “urgency” in this case as the date on which Jadhav will be executed has not yet been fixed

Pakistan argued that Vienna Convention provisions are not intended to apply to a ‘spy’ involved in terror activities.

India has achieved its immediate objective in approaching the ICJ i.e. to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending adjudication of the matter. As an immediate consequence, Pakistan is now under an obligation to grant consular access to Mr. Jadhav. However, this is a preliminary ruling and all issues are open for adjudication at the final stage.