ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants lawyer to be appointed for Kulbhushan Jadhavand Law Ministry filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court for a lawyer to be appointed for Indian Navy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav.
The petition, filed on Wednesday, seeks the appointment of a lawyer for the Indian national so that he can file a review petition for his death sentence.
Jadhav was arrested on charges of espionage in Balochistan in March 2016 and sentenced to death by a military court a year later. Under Pakistan’s International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance, 2020, he only has a short period of time left to file a reconsideration appeal. So far, neither Jadhav nor the Indian government through its high commission in Islamabad have filed a petition.
The ministry’s petition argued that though Jadhav has refused to engage a lawyer and file a petition, “it is in national interest that a legal representative is appointed for and on behalf of Commander Jadhav, so that the review and reconsideration proceedings of the accused’s conviction and sentence may be initiated” so that Pakistan can comply with the International Court of Justice’s order.
Last July, the International Court of Justice ordered Pakistan to provide consular access to Jadhav and review his death sentence.Read more:
