Kulbhushan Jadhav-India V. Pakistan

As it is well known that the relations between India and Pakistan remainn heated up since partition which is due to historical and political issues. Various military conflicts and Kashmir conflicts remain highlighted every now and then.

The same is the case with Kulbhushan Jadhav's case. It is said that the Pakistani Army arrested the retired naval army officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav from Baluchistan on 3rd March 2016 and the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad was informed about the arrest on 25th March 2016 by the Pakistani Foreign Secretary.

The officer was sentenced to death on 10th April 2017after three and a half month trial in a Field General Court Martial. The navy officer was accused of espionage and terrorism by the Pakistani Army. He was considered to be working for RAW, India's External Intelligence Agency.

ICJ

India was left with no other option other than approaching the ICJ- International Court of Justice , French Cour internationale de Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN) in may 2017.

India based its case on two main issues:

• Breach of Vienna Convention on consular access

• Jadhav's death sentence was based on ridiculous facts and could not fulfill the basic standards of ICJ

Pakistan also could not provide an answer to the delay of 21 days in informing abouth Jadhav's arrest.

India also accused Pakistan that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests.

ICJ Judgement

A 10 member bench of ICJ after hearing the pleas of both the parties restrained Pakistan from the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav. ICJ held that Pakistan had breached Article 36(1) of Vienna Convention and would have to provide consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav. Also the review and reconsideration of Jadhav's case cannot be done in military court. Therefore, ICJ suggests Pakistan to create a new forum if necessary.