Pakistan to amend Act for Jadhav plea in civil court

Islamabad, November 13

Pakistan is preparing to amend its army Act to allow death-row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav the right to file an appeal against his conviction in a civilian court. Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” after a trial in April 2017. India has maintained Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests.

Sources said the Imran Khan government was working on a draft to amend the Act to allow Jadhav the right to file an appeal against his conviction to implement the International Court of Justice’s July 17 verdict. The amended law will outline the procedure to seek redress in the civil courts against sentence by Army courts.

In a major victory for India, the ICJ on July 17 ruled that Pakistan must review the death sentence given to Jadhav. India had argued that consular access was being denied to its national in violation of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. — PTI