The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday formed a three-member larger bench at the government’s request to appoint lawyer for Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav for his appeal against the death penalty awarded to him by a military court.
The IHC Registrar’s Office issued a cause list on Thursday, which said that the case would be heard by a three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, at 2 pm on September 3.
On August 3, a special bench headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb had directed the Registrar’s Office to form a larger bench in a written order. The court had also directed the government to make another offer to India and Jadhav through the Foreign Office to hire a lawyer.
The court had had said in its order that at present the court was refraining from appointing a lawyer for Jadhav. It added that the government of Pakistan should inform Jadhav about his rights under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention.
The court said that Jadhav be informed about the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), adding that he be made aware of his rights under the recently-issued ordinance. Pakistan should also inform India of this court order, it added.
Besides ordering the formation of a larger bench, and the court also appointed senior lawyers Abid Hassan Manto, Hamid Khan and Makhdoom Ali Khan as amicus curiae. The order stressed that keeping in view Commander Jadhav’s right to a fair trial, great care would be taken in issuing statements and the media reporting.
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