International Court of Justice to announce verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav case today

New Delhi: International Court of Justice (ICJ) will announce the verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav case today (July 17) at 6.30 pm. 49-year-old retired Indian Navy officer is on death row in Pakistan on charges of spying for India's intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

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

India states that Pakistan kidnapped Kulbhushan Jadhav from Iran where Jadhav had business interests after he retired from the Indian Navy. However, Pakistan claims that they arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016, after he reportedly entered from Iran.

Pakistan had rejected India's plea for consular access to Jadhav at the ICJ, claiming that New Delhi wants the access to get the information gathered by its "spy". However, Pakistan facilitated a meeting of Jadhav with his mother and wife in Islamabad on December 25, 2017.

Earlier Pakistan released a “confessional video” released by Pakistan, Jadhav is purportedly heard as saying that he was serving the Indian Navy, that he arrived in Iran in 2003 and started a small business in Chahbahar. India has maintained that Pakistan has been unable to give any clear evidence against Jadhav.

The Ministry of External Affairs had earlier in 2016 said that the video was doctored and fake and appeared that several parts were spliced together. In one section, Jadhav says he retired in 2002 after the 2001 Parliament attack, later he is seen saying he was due to retire in 2022. While he refers to ‘criminal activity’ in the country, he doesn’t elaborate on it.

According to Pakistan media reports, Jadhav had an Iranian residency permit and that he purportedly had a passport in the name of Hussain Mubarak Patel with Sangli, Maharashtra given as the place of birth.

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