India will file a written submission at the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case on Wednesday. In June, the United Nations’s judicial body in The Hague had asked India to submit its arguments by September 13.
VD Sharma, joint secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs, left for the Netherlands on Tuesday night, The Wire reported. Pakistan has till December 13 to submit its counter-memorial.
In its memorial, New Delhi will reason grounds for relief for Jadhav, detail the violations committed by Pakistan and highlight that the former Indian Navy officer was denied consular access, India Today reported. India will also highlight that Jadhav was tried at a military court, not a civil one, without any legal help.
India took the case to the ICJ, saying that Pakistan had refused to give them consular access to Jadhav, who was arrested in March 2016 on espionage charges.
The first hearing in the case was on May 18, when the international court had stayed Jadhav’s execution till the hearing was completed. 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 does not have jurisdiction in the case. Islamabad has also held that the ICJ order was not final.
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