ISLAMABAD-A larger bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will Tuesday (tomorrow) resume hearing of the government’s plea seeking the appointment of a legal representative for Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav for filing his review petition against his death sentence.
The special larger bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb will conduct hearing of the government’s plea.
Previously, during the hearing of this case, the call also was given for the case of Indian High Commission for the release of Indian nationals convicted by military courts on charges of espionage and terrorism in Pakistan and Barrister Shah Nawaz Noon appeared before the court on behalf of the Commission.
At this Chief Justice remarked that how the verdict of the International Court of Justice could be implemented if India did not become part of hearing of this case. He added that it is a constitutional court and India should join the court’s proceedings.
Barrister Noon said that the documents of Kulbhushan case were not provided to him. He said that he gave the application seeking all the details of this case but the authorities directed him to produce his Wakalatnama signed by Kulhbhusan. Then, the Attorney General assured the court that they would provide all documents to the lawyer of Indian High Commission as per the laws of Pakistan.
Earlier, the court observed in its order, “Prima facie, it appears to us that the Government of India is reluctant to join these proceedings or to avail the remedy provided under the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance, 2020.
It added that the bench was informed that the stance of Commander Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav remained unchanged. “The Government of India has not made any attempt to approach this Court directly despite opportunities extended in this regard. We are mindful of the fact that rights of Commander Jadhav are involved in the matter before us. We are also conscious that it is an obligation of the Government of Pakistan to give effect to the judgment of the International Court of Justice.”
According to the court’s order, keeping in view the importance of the matter in hand, particularly when the right to life and right to fair trial of Commander Jadhav are involved, it is important to proceed with abundant caution.
“In order to meet the ends of justice and ensure implementation of the judgment of the International Court in letter and spirit, it would be beneficial, if the learned Attorney General could assist us regarding the scope of the obligation of providing effective review and reconsideration and its modalities in the context of the principles and law expounded by the International Court,” said the IHC bench.