As ICJ Stays Pak Court's Order On Jadhav's Execution, Here's A Timeline Of His Curious Case
India had filed a petition to ICJ.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has stayed Kulbhushan Jhadhav¡¯s death sentence, which was awarded to him by a Pakistan military court. This ruling came after India started proceedings against Pakistan at the court accusing Islamabad of ¡°egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations¡± in relation to Jhadav¡¯s death ruling.
Here¡¯s a timeline of everything that has happened so far:
March 2016
Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested. Pakistani army claimed that he was an agent of Indian intelligence agency RAW.
March 26, 2016
AP
Pakistan Foreign Office called the Indian High Commissioner to discuss the issue and subsequently issued the following statement: ¡°The Indian High Commissioner was summoned by the Foreign Secretary today (Friday) and through a demarche conveyed our protest and deep concern on the illegal entry into Pakistan by a RAW officer and his involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi.¡±
Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of India¡¯s¡¯ Ministry of External Affairs, responded by saying: ¡°The said individual (Kulbhushan Jadhav) has no link with Government since his premature retirement (he is said to have retired from the Indian Navy in 2002 and was a businessman since then) from Indian Navy. We have sought consular access to him. India has no interest in interfering in internal matters of any country and firmly believes that a stable and peaceful Pakistan is in the interest of all in the region.¡±
Following this India was denied consular access to Jadhav which could have given India a chance to speak to the accused.
March 29, 2016
AP
Pakistan government released a video of Jhadhav purportedly making a confession. In the video, he said that he was an Indian Navy Officer and also a RAW agent.
However, India continued to say that Pakistan authorities must have used coercive methods to extract a confession.
April 2016
The provincial government of Balochistan filed a FIR against Jadhav on charges of terrorism and sabotage.
December 7, 2016
AP
Sartaj Aziz, advisor of foreign affairs to the Pakistani Prime Minister, said that the dossier on Jhadhav did not have enough evidence against him. But he did not deny Pakistan¡¯s allegation of Jhadhav being an RAW agent.
March 3, 2017
Aziz retracted his previous statement on insufficient evidence on Jadhav. And instead told the Pakistan senate that he will not be extradited to India under any circumstances.
April 4, 2017
BCCL
Jadhav was sentenced to death in a secret trial.
May 9, 2017
India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ)and asked it to intervene. In the statement, it accused Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention on consular relations and not giving Jadhav his right to defend himself.
May 10, 2017
The ICJ acted on India¡¯s petition and told Pakistan to temporarily hold off on the Jadhav¡¯s execution.
This move by the ICJ gives India an international backing with which India can put pressure on Pakistan to conduct a fair trial of Jadhav. Meanwhile, according to reports, Iran has also sought access to Jadhav because Pakistan claimed that he entered its territory through Iran. How things go from here, only time will tell, but for now ICJ has put breaks on the false claims of Pakistan.
