Pakistan rejects request for Indian Lawyer to represent Kulbhushan Jadhav

Despite India trying to appoint a defence counsel for Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav using diplomatic channels, Pakistan has said that only "locally registered lawyers" will be allowed to appear before the bench.

Geo News on Thursday reported Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri as saying that there was no other option for India but to "cooperate with Pakistani courts", which only permitted the appearance of locally registered lawyers before the bench.

This comes days after Pakistani media reported that the Islamabad High Court on Thursday gave India "another opportunity" to appoint a counsel for Kulbhushan Jadhav. The Islamabad High Court adjourned the matter till October 6.

Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India had said that it has asked Pakistan for Jadhav to be represented by an Indian lawyer for filing a review petition against his death sentence.

"We are in touch with Pakistan through diplomatic channels. We believe in a free and fair trial in keeping with the letter and spirit of International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment. We have asked that Jadhav be represented by an Indian lawyer," MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said during a virtual briefing.

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