Pakistan’s Parliament has extended an ordinance issued earlier this year by four months to allow death row inmate Kulbhushan Jadhav to appeal against his conviction and sentence in court, in line with a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance was promulgated in May and was due to expire on September 17. The National Assembly or the lower house of Parliament extended it by oral vote on Monday.
Previously, the Pakistani government had approached the Islamabad High Court to appoint a defense attorney to represent Jadhav in the appeal. The court heard the case a second time on September 3 and ordered the federal government to give India another chance to appoint a lawyer to represent Jadhav.
The case will now be addressed on October 3.
The Pakistani government has said that only a lawyer licensed to practice in the country can be appointed as Jadhav’s lawyer, but India has insisted that he should be allowed to select a lawyer of his choice. He has also sought legal documents related to the Jadhav case that he says Pakistan has not provided so far.
The Islamabad High Court order came after Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan informed a larger court consisting of Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justices Aamer Farooq and Miangul Hassan Aurangzaib that the federal government had not received a response from the Indian government on the matter.
Khan said Jadhav has maintained that he does not want to benefit from the ordinance for a review of his case, and that he had requested his clemency, already pending with the Pakistani Army chief, which should be considered instead.
On 6 August, the Islamabad High Court had formed a larger court of three judges at the request of the government to appoint a lawyer for Jadhav so that he could appeal against the death sentence imposed on him by a military court.
At the time, the high court had also ordered the government of Pakistan to make another offer to India and Jadhav, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to hire a lawyer. The court also said it was refraining from appointing a lawyer for Jadhav, who should be informed by the Pakistani government of his rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
Jadhav, 50, was arrested by Pakistani security agencies in Baluchistan in March 2016 and charged with involvement in espionage. India rejected these allegations and said he was kidnapped by Pakistani agents in the Iranian port of Chabahar, where he had a business.
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