The International Court of Justice had requested Pakistan to set up a proper appeals process for Mr. Jadhav’s sentencing. According to a media report, Pakistan’s National Assembly has passed a government-backed law giving Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav the opportunity to appeal.
In April 2017, a Pakistani military court condemned Mr. Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, to death on allegations of espionage and terrorism. In July 2019, the International Court of Justice in The Hague determined that Pakistan must conduct a “effective review and reconsideration” of Mr. Jadhav’s conviction and sentence, as well as provide India immediate consular access.
In its 2019 ruling, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) requested Pakistan to provide a proper mechanism for appeals against Mr. Jadhav’s sentence. He claimed that by passing the bill, Pakistan had demonstrated to the rest of the world that it was a “responsible state.”
Three times the Opposition staged a walkout and pointed up the lack of quorum, but the chair declared the house in order and proceeded with the business, prompting the Opposition to resort to loud protest. Members of the opposition gathered in front of the Speaker’s podium and chanted slogans.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) legislator Ahsan Iqbal criticised the government’s actions, saying it had inserted the bill in a heavy parliamentary agenda to bring relief to Mr. Jadhav. The parliament also saw a ruckus when Raja Pervez Ashraf of the Pakistan Peoples Party opposed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s statement that the Opposition members were toeing the Indian narrative by opposing the bill to grant relief to Mr. Jadhav, according to the daily. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), requested that the speaker allow time for members to review the bills.
Nasim, the law minister, expressed surprise at the opposition’s behaviour, claiming that the opposition had not read the ICJ decision. He said that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had specifically requested that Pakistan pass legislation granting Mr. Jadhav the right to appeal
