Pak to amend army Act for Jadhav plea in civil court
Strap: Will allow Indian prisoner to challenge conviction as per ICJ order
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, according to defence sources here.
Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” after a closed trial in April 2017. India has maintained Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.
Defence sources said the Imran Khan government was working on a draft to amend the army Act to allow Jadhav the right to file an appeal against his conviction in a civilian court 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.
Rejecting Pakistan’s objection to admissibility of the Indian application in the case, the court in its 42-page order held that “a continued stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for the effective review” of the sentence of Jadhav that had strained relations between the two neighbouring countries.
The Bench, however, rejected some remedies sought by India, including annulment of the military court’s decision convicting Jadhav, his release and safe passage to India.
After much dilly-dallying, Pakistan on September 2 granted India consular access to Jadhav under ICJ directions.
Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016, after he reportedly entered from Iran. — PTI
Govt working on draft
* The Pak government is working on a draft to amend the army Act to implement the ICJ verdict
* It will outline procedure to seek redress in civil courts against sentence by army courts, say sources
