Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday, extended timeline for the appointment of lawyer for Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the Indian High Commission’s plea seeking extension in the time for appointing the lawyer for Kulbhushan Jadhav.
During the hearing, the top judge underlined the significance of International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling in Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
It is our responsibility to ensure a fair trial in the Kulbhushan case, he said.
Meanwhile, Barrister Shahnawaz citing Indian High Commission, apprised the court that India’s External Affairs Ministry is currently mulling over the issue of legal representation of Mr Jadhav.
Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan was also present at the hearing and notified the court that Pakistan government is ready to offer third Consular Access to India for Kulbhushan Jadhav.
The development comes as earlier, IHC on November 10th last month had given one week to Indian High Commission to seek relevant instructions in Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
The case has been adjourned till January 14.
Kulbhushan Jadhav Case
Khulbhushan Jadhav aka Hussain Mubarak Patel was arrested inside Balochistan in Mashkel near the border region of Chaman on March 3, 2016, on charges of working for Indian intelligence agency RAW and being involved in various terrorism and espionage activities inside Pakistan and was sentenced to death in 2017.
India had reached out to International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the verdict, which had directed Pakistan to grand consular access to the accused and in fact turned downed India’s request for Kulbhushan’s release.
Federal government had filed a petition in IHC seeking guidance over the issue of Khulbhushan Jadhav’s legal representation, which was followed by the establishment of a larger bench of IHC to decide over the matter.
