Pakistan has decided to send its Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali to lead its team at the next meeting of “agents” in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the Hague, PTI reported on Wednesday. India had moved the International Court of Justice against Pakistan’s decision to execute the former Indian Navy officer on charges of terror activities and spying. Both parties will meet on June 8 to discuss further proceedings in the case.
On June 8, India and Pakistan are expected to discuss dates for next hearings and the submission of documents related to the case. Pakistan may also nominate an ad-hoc judge for the case, reported Dawn. According to the rules, a country can nominate an ad hoc judge in a case if the bench does not have a judge of their nationality.
The decision to send Ali for the meeting was made by Pakistan’s Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday.
Indian had taken the case to the ICJ, saying that Pakistan had refused to give them consular access to Jadhav, who was arrested in March 2016. The first hearing in the case took place on May 18 and the court had stayed Jadhav’s execution until the hearing is complete. It had also asked Pakistan to grant India consular access to Jadhav, which has not been done so far. Although the ICJ’s stay on Jadhav’s execution was a huge relief, Pakistan has maintained that the UN has no jurisdiction in the case, even while saying that its order was not final.
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