India says it wants Indian Lawyer to represent Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistani Court

On Thursday, India pressed for having an Indian lawyer to represent Kulbhushan Jadhav in a Pakistani Court when it takes up his review plea against his death sentence.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said India is in touch with Pakistan through diplomatic channels on the issue relating to Jadhav.

He said that "For a free & fair trial in keeping with the letter & spirit of ICJ judgement, we have asked for Jadhav to be represented by an Indian lawyer. However, Pakistan has to first address the core issues- giving copies of relevant documents of the case & providing unimpeded consular access to Jadhav".

Srivastava was responding to a question on the issue at an online media briefing.

India has been demanding "unimpeded" consular access to Jadhav as mandated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Recently, the Islamabad High Court named three senior lawyers as amici curiae in the case of Jadhav & ordered the Pakistan government to give "another chance" to India to appoint a counsel for the death-row prisoner. 

In 2017, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav & challenging the death sentence.

The Hague-based ICJ ruled in July 2019 that Pakistan must undertake an "effective review & reconsideration" of the conviction & sentence of Jadhav & also to grant consular access to India without further delay.

Last month, India accused Pakistan of adopting a "farcical" approach in denying available legal remedies to Jadhav against his death sentence in contravention of the ICJ order.

The strong reaction had come after Pakistan did not provide documents relating to Jadhav's case to India so that it could file a review petition in the court against the death sentence.

India had also accused Pakistan of blocking all the avenues for an effective remedy available in the case.

51-Old retired Indian Navy officer Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage & terrorism in April 2017. 

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