ICJ begins hearing on Jadhav case: India charges Pak with conducting ‘farcical’ trial

The International Court of Justice on Monday began its public hearing on the high voltage Kulbhushan Jadhav case with the Indian agent Deepak Mittal telling the court that Pakistan had conducted a ‘farcical trial’ against him.
“It is an unfortunate matter where the life of an Indian is at risk,” senior counsel Harish Salve said the court.
He said Pakistan has been using the episode for its ‘propaganda’ value when it is under attack for extending support to terrorism. “It is an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention,” Salve said.
“Pakistan was bound to grant consular access….,” he said and added even Jadhav was not informed of his right to consular access.
India had sent 13 reminders but these were disallowed.
“India has no proper information or paper on what happened (on the case) in Pakistan,” he said.
Earlier, allowing the floor to India, the Court allowed three hours to Indian representatives.
The hearing on the case at the ICJ as per a timetable for the public hearing in the case will be held from Monday to February 21.
In its written pleadings, India has accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention by not giving consular access to Jadhav arguing that the convention did not say that such access would not be available to an individual arrested on espionage charges.
In December, 2017, Kulbhushan Jadhav was allowed to meet his wife and mother but later on MEA in Delhi said it appeared Jadhav was “under considerable stress” and “speaking in an atmosphere of coercion”.
“The manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath was clearly an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav’s alleged activities,” the ministry has said in a statement.
“The Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner that violated the letter and spirit of our understandings,” it has said.
Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of ‘espionage’ in April 2017 but after Indian government moved the international court, the 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18, 2017 had given a stay order and ‘restrained’ Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.