Determined To Take Kulbhushan Jadhav Case To 'Logical End', Says Pak After ICJ Order

The Hague: Pakistan is determined to take the Kulbhushan Jadhav case to its "logical end", the country's Attorney General said today after the International Court of Justice asked Islamabad to ensure the Indian national is not executed till its final verdict. In a statement, Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali's office said Mr Jadhav, sentenced to death for spying and for acts of terrorism, had ample time to petition for clemency. "We are determined to pursue this case to its logical end," he said.

Reacting to the order, Pakistan's Foreign Office said the country does not accept the International Court of Justice's jurisdiction in matters related to national security.

The head of Pakistan's delegation at the International Court of Justice said it was a "basic ruling" and said the UN court had not mentioned anything about maintainability of the order.

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Asked by reporters outside the ICJ if Pakistan will stay Mr Jadhav's execution as ordered by the court, Pakistan's Moazzam Ahmad Khan initially did not reply. He then said that the ruling was "basic". He did not comment on the merits of the case.
 "This is a very basic judgment. What the court has done is that it has given a ruling on provisional measures," Mr Khan told reporters. "It did not say anything on the merit of maintainability of the order," he said.

In major relief for India, the International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Pakistan not to execute Mr Jadhav till a final decision is taken.

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Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the court, also asked Pakistan to inform it of all the measures it has taken to implement the order.

India had sought the court's intervention for an immediate suspension of Mr Jadhav's death sentence, fearing that the Indian national may be executed even before the ICJ decided the case.

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Mr Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court last month, a year after he was arrested on espionage charges. Islamabad has rejected 16 Indian requests for consular access to Mr Jadhav, held at an unknown prison in Pakistan.

(With inputs from IANS)