IHC Chief Athar MinaAllah will head the three-member bench for hearing of Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-August 7th, 2020) Islamabad High Court (IHC) formed a larger bench to hear case pertaining to appointment of legal representative for Indian spy and agent of intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Kulbhushan Jadhav here on Friday.
The IHC larger-member bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mian Gull Hassan Auranzgeb will hear the case on Sept 03.
Earlier, Foreign Office had recontacted Indian government over matter of appointing lawyer for Kulbhushan Jadhav, stating that the move came following directives of IHC.
On July 22, the Pakistani government had filed a petition in the high court seeking appointment of a lawyer for Jadhav.
The petition stated that Kulbhushan, who was involved in several terrorist activities in Pakistan, has refused to file plea against his sentence.
The agent cannot appoint lawyer in Pakistan without assistance from India. India is also reluctant to avail the facility under the ordinance. Therefore, in the national interest, the court should appoint a legal representative on behalf of Kulbhushan. The court should order so that Pakistan's responsibility is fulfilled as per the decision of the International Court of Justice, the petition further stated.
On July 17, 2020, Pakistan decided to grant third consular access to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been awarded death sentence on espionage charges by a military court.
Foreign Ministry Aisha Farooqui had informed earlier Pakistan formally informed about its decision to Indian authorities and their response was awaited.
“The third consular access will be without the presence of security personnel,” Aisha Farooqui had said.
On July 16, Pakistan granted second consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav.
In the second time consular access, the Pakistani authorities arranged a meeting between an Indian diplomat and Jadhav, who has confessed to terrorism activities in Balochistan and other parts of the country.
The first consular access had been granted in September 2019. However, the Indian officials went back without talking to the death row convict despite Jadhav was kept calling out to the visiting diplomats.
The consular access, which was requested by India, has been granted in line with the adjustment of the International Court of Justice and Pakistani laws. Earlier, the Indian spy had refused to file a review plea and instead preferred to appeal for mercy.
Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan on charges of terrorism and spying for India's intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" in April 2017.
