NEW DELHI: After winning the first round of legal battle for former Indian navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav in the International Court of Justice by stalling his execution, India is now gearing up for second round for seeking fresh trial for Jadhav in the Pakistani military court.
Unsure about the legal proceedings that led to Jadhav’s conviction, India’s attorney in The Hague Harish Salve told Express that since the time he was caught, we were unaware of all the legal proceeding happened at the Pakistan’s military court, so now, India will pitch for a fair trial with proper representation from his side.
“Jadhav Singh had faced lot of human rights violation already and our next step before the ICJ would be to ask for fresh trial in Pakistani Court as he during the entire tenure in custody couldn't communicate with anyone, neither had any consular access and he has suffered a lot,” senior advocate Salve said.
New Delhi has been maintaining a stand that Jadhav was abducted from Iran where he was running a business in March last year. And since then, he has been in the custody of Pakistan. He has been on the death row and incommunicado and has no legal background, and this makes a strong case for seeking a fair trial before the court there. India, Salve said, can argue that he has suffered enough and deserves to be released.
“We will try and get him a trial with proper representation of Pakistan Counsel representing him before the court. We are ready to bear all legal expenses at fresh but now want the innocent man to free from there and get back home.” Salve added. Buoyed after the ICJ verdict, Salve said that it is clear that we will get a fair access to him and once that is done we will provide all necessary legal help to him.
Salve asserts that even if Pakistan is denying that ICJ ruling is not a binding on them but India still has lot of options to explore and said, "Pakistan can't really afford to do this. Any defiance of the order would mean embarrassment for them at the international forum."
After the verdict on Thursday, External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had tweeted, "I assure the nation that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we will leave no stone unturned to save Kulbhushan Jadhav."