India petitions ICJ for stay in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s death sentence

Contends the sentence handed to the self-confessed spy defies Vienna Convention rights

India has moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stay the death sentence handed to self-confessed Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by a military court in Pakistan.

According to a statement issued by ICJ on Tuesday, India filed a petition with the court urging it to suspend Jadhav’s sentence and declare that it was arrived at “in brazen defiance of Vienna Convention rights”.

The petition states that Delhi was not informed of Jadhav’s detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the Indian spy of his rights. It also accused Pakistani authorities of violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by denying India consular access to Jadhav.

The petition urged ICJ to “restrain Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence and direct it to take steps to annul the decision.”



“If Pakistan is unable to annul the decision, then this Court should declare the decision illegal… [and] direct it to release the convicted Indian national forthwith,” the petition added.

India also requested the ICJ for provisional measures “directing the Government of Pakistan to take all measures necessary to ensure that he [Jadhav] is not executed” until the court decides the case.

Meanwhile, Indian media outlets on Tuesday claimed that ICJ had already announced a stay order and had sent a letter in this regard to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.



Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in a post on Twitter, claimed she had spoken to Jadhav’s mother to inform her of the purported stay order.

“I have spoken to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court,” Sushma wrote. “Mr Harish Salve, Senior Advocate is representing India before International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case,” she added in another tweet.

I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court.

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 9, 2017