Pakistan legal team in Hague for Kulbushan Jadhav verdict

The Hague: Pakistan legal team on Tuesday reached The Hague in the Netherlands, a day before International Court of Justice (ICJ) is expected to announce its verdict in Kulbushan Jadhav case.

The team, led by Attorney General for Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan, also included Foreign Office Spokesperson Muhammad Faisal, reported Express Tribune.

The 48-year-old former Naval officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism on April 11, 2017.

Following which, India approached ICJ against Pakistan "for egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963" in the matter.

India has contended that it had not been informed of Mr. Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan had failed to inform the accused of his rights. It further alleged that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the authorities of Pakistan had denied India its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite repeated requests.

Subsequently, on May 18, 2017, a 10-member bench of the ICJ restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till the adjudication of the case.

In February this year, the ICJ rejected five pleas made by Pakistan during the hearing of Jadhav's case, including the playing of so-called "confessional statement" of the Indian national and a request to adjourn the hearing citing illness of its ad-hoc judge.

The four-day hearing in the Jadhav case started on February 18 at the ICJ headquarters in The Hague.

Pakistan had further urged the ICJ to dismiss India's plea for relief for its national Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in an "opaque trial."