Harish Salve charged Re 1 to fight Jadhav's case at ICJ: Swaraj

New Delhi: One of India's top lawyers Harish Salve charged only Re 1 as the fee to fight India's case at the International Court of Justice against the death penalty given to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court.

This was disclosed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj late on Monday night in response to a tweet by one Sanjeev Goyal, who said India could have got any good lawyer with much less fee than what Salve must have charged for fighting the case.

"Not fair. #HarishSalve has charged us Rs. 1/- as his fee for this case (sic)," Swaraj tweeted.

Salve was India's lead attorney at the ICJ hearing the case of Indian national Jadhav. India has petitioned the ICJ, urging that it immediately suspend Jadhav's death sentence, expressing fears that Pakistan could execute him even before the hearing at ICJ.

Pakistan has alleged that Jadhav was an agent of India's external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). India has denied Jadhav’s any such connection with the government.

The ICJ on Monday heard arguments of both India and Pakistan. On May 8, India moved the ICJ against the death penalty, alleging Pakistan violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by repeatedly denying it consular access to Jadhav.

India, in its appeal, has asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran, where he was doing business after he retired from the Indian Navy.