In an attempt to advance the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) directed the Indian and Pakistani Governments to file their written pleadings by April 17, 2018, and July 17, 2018, respectively. The directive of ICJ comes after taking into account the views and circumstances of the concerned parties.
PRESS RELEASE: The #ICJ authorizes the submission of a Reply by India and a Rejoinder by Pakistan and fixes the time-limits for the filing of these written pleadings in the case #India v. #Pakistan https://t.co/TT2NKgn86s pic.twitter.com/Da9fTSZ7ml
— CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) January 23, 2018
As per an official statement by the judicial organ of the United Nations, the ICJ seeks a reply by India and a rejoinder by Pakistan. The statement issued last week read “The Court fixed 17 April 2018 and 17 July 2018 as the respective time-limits for the filing of these written pleadings.”
Jadhav alias Hussein Mubarak Patel was arrested by Pakistani authorities on March 3 in Balochistan. He reportedly entered from Iran. However, India has maintained a different stand. Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he went for business interests following his retirement from the Indian Navy.
In April 2017, the Pakistani military court sentenced Jadhav to death on the charges of espionage and terrorism. Seeing the Pakistani reluctance India moved to The Hague-based trans-national court in May last year. On May 18, Pakistan was asked by 10-member bench of the ICJ to restrain from executing Jadhav till the case is settled.
Pakistan was accused of violating Article 36 of the Vienna Convention as it refused consular access to Jadhav. Responding to the allegations, Pakistan said that they do not hold validity for spies. India’s plea for consular access was rejected by Pakistan on the ground of information seeking from its spy. It was further instructed to take all measures to prevent Jadhav from being executed.
On December 25, Pakistan allowed Jadhav to meet his wife and mother in Islamabad. The meeting held at the heavily guarded Foreign Affairs Ministry Building lasted about 40 minutes. However, Pakistan crossed the line by disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities as security. Before the meeting, his mother and wife were told to remove the mangal sutra, bangles, bindi, and footwear.
In a picture released by Pakistan, Jadhav is seen sitting behind a glass screen. His mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through an intercom. Post this meeting a video message of Jadhav thanking the Pakistan government for arranging a meeting with his wife and mother was released. Pakistan released a video of Jadhav where he claimed that no harm has been done to him in custody. These videos prompted a strong reaction from India and people questioned Islamabad’s credibility.