RAWALPINDI – Pakistani military’s media wing has termed the speculations for amendment in Army Act to implement International Court of Justice’s verdict regarding convicted Indian terrorist Kulbushan Jadhav as “incorrect”.
“Various legal options for review and reconsideration of the case are being considered. Final status shall be shared in due course of time,” the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, said in a tweet Wednesday.
Speculations for amendment in Pak Army Act to implement ICJ verdict regarding convicted Indian terrorist Cdr Kulbushan Jadhav are incorrect. Various legal options for review and reconsideration of the case are being considered. Final status shall be shared in due course of time.
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) November 13, 2019
Earlier today, reports in Indian media suggested that Pakistan is going to “amend its Army Act to allow Indian death row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav to appeal his sentence in a civilian court.”
Jadhav, 49, was tried and sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court sentenced in 2017 on charges of espionage and terrorism. Jadhav is an Indian intelligence officer who was arrested from southwestern Balochistan province by the security forces in March 2016.
India disputes the Pakistani version of events saying that Jadhav was a former naval officer who was in Iran on business when he was kidnapped and accused of spying and terror.
The reports further claimed that the “Pakistani move to amend its laws to allow Jadhav to appeal his death sentence comes after the Hague-based International Court of Justice ordered Islamabad in July give India consular access to him and also review his death sentence.”
In September, following the ICJ verdict, Jadhav was allowed a meeting with an Indian embassy official for the first time. India had appealed to the ICJ a month after Jadhav was sentenced to death by the military court.
In a verdict 15 to one in favour of India in July, the ICJ said the death sentence should remain suspended until Pakistan effectively reviewed and reconsidered the conviction.
