Pakistan says it denied Kulbhushan Jadhav his ‘right to appeal as…’

Pakistan has admitted to denying Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav his right to appeal after the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2019. Defence Ministry lawyer Khawaja Haris Ahmed informed the Supreme Court that Kulbhushan Jadhav was not allowed right to appeal after the ICJ order because the international court had only addressed the issue of consular access in his case.

In June 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in India’s favour, upholding Kulbhushan Jadhav’s right to consular access and directing Pakistan to review and reconsider his conviction and death sentence.

Mentioning the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, the defence ministry told a Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court over arguments that claimed that Kulbhushan Jadhav was provided right to appeal but other Pakistani citizens were not for their May 2023 violence after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Now, Pakistan has admitted that even Kulbhushan Jadhav was not allowed a right to appeal as the ICJ verdict only mentioned consular access, Dawn has reported. Also Read | Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Pak court allows India more time to appoint lawyer

Former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was running a business in Chabahar of Iran when he was abducted and taken to Pakistan. He was allegedly arrested in Chaman region of Balochistan near Pakistan-Afghanistan border in March 2016.

In April 2017, he was sentenced to death on espionage charges by a Pakistani court. Pakistan claimed that Kulbhushan Jadhav was a spy for the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the Indian intelligence agency. Also Read | Pakistan adopts Bill enabling Kulbhushan Jadhav appeal as per ICJ

India moved the international court and the latter ordered Pakistan to suspend Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution. Since then, Pakistan has allowed only one consular access to the Indian national.