Pak judiciary robust, India has no case: Pak at ICJ

Presenting its case on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Pakistan on Thursday claimed that it had a robust judicial system in its country and dismissed India's plea for repatriation of Jadhav as "devoid of legal merit".

Arguing for his country before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) presided over by Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf on the fourth day of hearing, Pakistan lawyer Khawar Qureshi contended that it was wrong on India's part to disparage his country's Military courts, which, he said, follow the same procedure as civilian courts.

Qureshi said India "failed to respond to evidence" in its argument made by lawyer Harish Salve yesterday.

"India persists in contumelious conduct. India fails to engage with the evidence that states made an exception to espionage prior to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) being adopted a" that state practice was unaffected by VCCR", Qureshi said.

India in its arguments on Wednesday had contended that Pakistan did not follow the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as it failed to inform India of Jadhav's arrest immediately after and of providing him any consular access.

Jadhav, a naval officer, was awarded death sentence by the Pakistan military court in 2016 after he was arrested by it on charges of espionage.

Qureshi said there was overwhelming evidence to show that Jadhav was a spy, acting under the plan of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

He called Ajit Doval "India's self-styled superspy" and said that if Doval were to come to London, there is a vacancy for an actor to play James Bond.

He attempted to scuttle Indian judiciary's credibility also by referring to hanging of Afzal Guru, which he said was done merely to satisfy collective conscience of the people.

"India's position is as devoid of legal merit now as it was on 8 May 2017(when ICJ stayed Jadhav's execution). India's claim of relief remains as far fetched now as it was then," Qureshi said while concluding.

The ICJ retired for deliberations after Pakistan Agent Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan made the concluding remarks.

The Court will advise the date of the judgment "in due time".

--IANS

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