The Islamabad High Court (IHC) allowed extra time to the detained Indian spy, Kubhushan Jadhav, to appoint a legal counsel, on Tuesday.
The three-judge IHC bench under Justice Athar Minallah heard the case filed by the law ministry for designating a lawyer for the detained Indian spy.
Other judges on the bench included Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Aurangzeb.
It is pertinent to note that on May 5, the court allowed Jadhav to have more time to appoint a legal representative. Initially, India did not respond to this decision by the court.
The attorney-general stated that he wanted a private consular access for Jadhav, but it is evident that it could not be granted, not by Pakistan only but by any country in such a case.
Meanwhile Jadhav was not allowed to meet India’s representatives in private because they could harm him.
“They can cause harm to him just by shaking hands with him”, he stated.
Pakistan wanted to implement the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, but India did not seem interested in it, he added.
He said that only the court could appoint a legal representative on behalf of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who could file an appeal on his behalf.
Justice Athar Minallah said that the court “wants to fully implement the ICJ ruling and this is possible only by way of effective proceedings. “We need to proceed in accordance with the Vienna Convention because his life depends on the outcome”, he said. He said that the court believed that India would not waste this opportunity and come forward.
Justice Aamer Farooq responded by saying under which law should the court proceed to appoint a legal cousel? Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb said that when India was not interested in filing an appeal on behalf of the prisoner, what could the court do?
Later, the hearing was adjourned indefinitely.
In April this year, Indian High Commission’s legal representative Barrister Shahnawaz Noon had excused himself from appearing in the case.
On October 6, 2020, veteran lawyers Makhdoom Ali Khan and Abid Hassan Minto had declined to appear in the court for their own reasons, respectively.
It is to note that Kulbushan Jadhav was detained on March 3, 2016 when he reportedly entered Pakistan illegally.
