Pakistan says Kulbhushan Jadhav refused to file review petition against his death sentence

Islamabad: Pakistan has claimed that Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer who has been sentenced to death by a military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism”, has refused to file a review petition for reconsideration of his sentence and conviction.

“On June 17, 2020, Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav was invited to file a petition for review and reconsideration of his sentence and conviction. Exercising his legal right he refused to file a petition for review and reconsideration of his sentence and conviction,” Pakistan Additional Attorney General Ahmed Irfan claimed on Wednesday.

In a press conference, the official said that Jadhav insisted on the mercy petition he filed on April 17, 2017.

India is in contact with Pakistan through diplomatic channels on implementation of International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision in Kulbhushan Jadhav case, informed sources over the matter had told ANI in May.

“Last year the ICJ gave a decision in favour of India. We are in touch with Pakistan through diplomatic channels on implementation of ICJ decision,” sources had said.

On September 2 last year, India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan Gaurav Ahluwalia met Jadhav in Islamabad after Pakistan had granted consular access to the Indian national.

In July, the ICJ, by a vote of 15-1, had upheld India’s claim that Pakistan has committed an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations on several counts.

The world court had ordered Islamabad to carry out an effective “review and reconsideration” of his conviction.

Jadhav was purportedly “arrested” from Balochistan by Pakistani security forces on March 3, 2016, after he allegedly entered the country from Iran as claimed by Islamabad.

India has rejected Pakistan’s allegations about Jadhav’s involvement in spying and subversive activities and said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar where he was running a business.