Pak Passes Law To Give Kulbhushan Review Option: India Says Not Enough

New Delhi: India is believed to have told Islamabad that it needed to implement the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s order in “letter and spirit” after Pakistan’s Parliament on Wednesday passed a Bill to provide the right of review and reconsideration in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, The Indian Express reported.

Indian government sources told the paper that the law is “nothing new”.

The Pakistan Parliament, in a joint sitting on Wednesday, passed a Bill that will give Jadhav the right to appeal against his conviction.

The International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2020, was moved by Law Minister Farogh Nasim. It was passed with a majority vote, Dawn reported.

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

India had approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence.

On July 17, 2019, the ICJ ruled that Pakistan was obliged under international laws to provide by means of its own choosing “effective review and reconsideration” of Jadhav’s conviction.

Pakistan claims that Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan in 2016 on charges of espionage. India has rejected Pakistan’s allegations and said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar.