Pakistan to amend Army Act to allow Kulbhushan Jadhav appeal in civil court

Islamabad: Following the International Court of Justice’s condition to allow Kulbhushan Jadhav to file an appeal in a civilian court, Pakistan has decided to amend its Army Act.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its July verdict in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case had asked Pakistan to allow Jadhav to exercise his rights under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention and arrange for his legal representation.

Accordingly, Pakistan is all set to amend the Army Act, stated a Pakistan news channel ARY News. It is said that a draft has been prepared to amend the act.

The verdict read: "The court has found that Pakistan acted in breach of its obligations under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention: first, by not informing Mr Jadhav of his rights; secondly, by not informing India, without delay, of the arrest and detention of Mr Jadhav; and thirdly, by denying access to Mr Jadhav by consular officers of India, contrary to their right, inter alia, to arrange for his legal representation."

Highlighting the breaches by Pakistan, the verdict also specified, "In the court’s view, the first and third breaches by Pakistan, as just set out, constitute internationally wrongful acts of a continuing character. Accordingly, Pakistan is under an obligation to cease those acts and to comply fully with its obligations under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention. Consequently, Pakistan must inform Mr Jadhav without further delay of his rights under Article 36, paragraph 1 (b), and allow Indian consular officers to have access to him and to arrange for his legal representation, as provided by Article 36, paragraph 1 (a) and (c)."

India has stated that Jadhav was abducted by Pakistani organisations from Iran. Islamabad had announced that the Pakistan military has awarded death sentence to him in 2017, months after informing India about his arrest. 

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