Staff Reporter Islamabad
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) – while hearing the government’s plea to appoint a counsel for convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav – has noted that submission to the jurisdiction of any court is “quite distinct” from appearing before a court to assist it in a matter.
At the last hearing of the case, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan had informed the court that India has contended that appearance of its consul before a Pakistani court to defend Jadhav would amount to submission to the jurisdiction of the court and will violate its “sovereign immunity”.
An IHC larger bench – comprising Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb –later issued a three-page written order stating that “at this juncture, the court is conducting proceedings only to work out the way forward to implement the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)”.
Jadhav, a self-confessed operative of Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was arrested on March 3, 2016 during a counter-intelligence operation in Balochistan.
A Field General Court Martial in Pakistan sentenced Jadhav to death on April 10, 2017 for fuelling terrorism in Balochistan and Karachi.
