ICJ to announce verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav case later in July

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will announce its verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav case later this month, government sources have said.

The 48-year-old former Naval officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism on April 11, 2017, following which India moved the ICJ, challenging the verdict.

Subsequently, on May 18, 2017, a 10-member bench of the ICJ restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till the adjudication of the case.

In February this year, the ICJ rejected five pleas made by Pakistan during the hearing of Jadhav's case, including the playing of so-called "confessional statement" of the Indian national and a request to adjourn the hearing citing illness of its ad-hoc judge.

The four-day hearing in the Jadhav case started on February 18 at the ICJ headquarters in The Hague.

Pakistan had further urged the ICJ to dismiss India's plea for relief for its national Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in an "opaque trial."

In addition, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar, while briefing the media on Thursday, said, "Kulbhushan Jadhav case will be announced in a few weeks. Oral submissions have been made in the case."

"The verdict has to be announced by the International Court of Justice. The date has to be announced by them," Kumar added.