ICJ to deliver verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav case on July 17

ICJ to deliver verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav case on July 17

The Hague: A screengrab of President of International Court of Justice, Judge Ronny Abraham, reading out the court verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav

New Delhi/Islamabad, July 4 (IANS) The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will announce on July 17 its verdict on Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage.

Oral submissions from both India and Pakistan have been made at the International Court of Justice.

Pakistani daily Dawn reported that the verdict will be announced on July 17, quoting Pakistan Foreign Office sources.

Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on April 11, 2017, after which India moved the ICJ, challenging the verdict.

The ICJ restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till the adjudication of the case.

In February this year, the ICJ held a four-day hearing of the case at the ICJ headquarters at The Hague.

India had urged the ICJ to annul Jadhav's death sentence saying his trial by a Pakistani military court had "hopelessly failed to satisfy even the minimum standards of due process".

Ex-Solicitor General Harish Salve, who represented India at the ICJ, had slammed the Pakistani military court's "opaque proceedings" which try civilians against the international norms.

In his argument, Salve said Pakistan has sentenced 161 civilians to death in military courts in "opaque proceedings in the last two years".

"Jadhav's trial by a military court hopelessly fails to satisfy even minimum standards of due process and should be declared unlawful," he said.

On February 22, the ICJ had reserved its verdict in the case following conclusion of arguments.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, briefing the media on Thursday, said, "The verdict has to be announced by the International Court of Justice. We will wait and see."

--IANS

rn/kr

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