Our stand virtually has been accepted by the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. Now the ball is in Pakistan’s court and they will have to review their actions in a civilian court. The rule of the law cannot be upheld in a military court. We will have to see what they do.
However, the Pakistani authorities have to be sure of reviewing their actions while being in the four walls of the law.
The observation of the ICJ that the Pakistani authorities have violated the provisions of the Vienna Convention is also a big moral victory for the Indian legal team and the authorities.
So is the suspension of Jadhav’s death sentence. All eyes will be on the Pakistani authorities as to how they deal with the case now.
The verdict has also emphasised the level of jurisdiction that the ICJ has. The court cannot decide on the way that Jadhav is tried and also annul or decide his punishment or the quantum of it. That has to be done solely by the Pakistani authorities based on the rule of the law in their land. But with the court asking Pakistan to review its judgment and inform it about the steps taken for the same, it will be interesting to see how the authorities across the border handle the case from here on.
The granting of consular access also is a big victory for the Indian team. It was one of the requests that the Indian team made to the court and now Jadhav will have access to all legal options and a team from India can be in constant touch with Jadhav.
The only things one can say which went against the Indian side were the denial of the requests to free Jadhav and repatriate him to India.
Again, the court was clear in its verdict that this aspect of the case should and will be decided by the Pakistani authorities according to the rule of their land.
All in all, it was a victory for the Indian team and the attention now will shift fully to Pakistan and its authorities. It will be closely watched how Pakistan decides to review Jadhav’s sentence and what actions would the authorities there will take to comply with the ICJ verdict.