MEA calls Pak’s claim on Jadhav’s refusal to file review plea a ‘farce’
   Date :09-Jul-2020

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ISLAMABAD :
 
AFTER Pakistan claimed on Wednesday that Kulbushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer being held in Pakistan, has refused to initiate review petition, the Ministry of External Affairs called it a “continuation of farce” and stated that the Indian national was coerced by Islamabad to forego his rights to seek implementation of judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
 
MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava reacting to Pakistan’s statement said that India sought unimpeded access to Jadhav to discuss his remedies under the Ordinance that allowed the High Court to review the sentence awarded by Pakistan’s military court. Srivastava said that the Indian Government will do its utmost to protect Jadhav and ensure his safe return to India.
 
“To that end, it would consider all appropriate options,” he said. “Pakistan’s claim that Jadhav, who is incarcerated in Pakistan’s custody, has refused to initiate review petition is a continuation of the farce that has been in play for the last four years. Jadhav has been sentenced to execution through a farcical trial. He remains under custody of Pakistan’s military. He has clearly been coerced to refuse to file a review in his case,” Srivastava said in the statement.
 
“India sought unimpeded access to Jadhav to discuss his remedies under the Ordinance. In a brazen attempt to scuttle even the inadequate remedy under the Ordinance, Pakistan has obviously coerced Jadhav to forego his rights to seek implementation of the judgment of the ICJ,” he added. In July last year, the ICJ, by a vote of 15-1, had upheld India’s claim that Pakistan has committed an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations on several counts. The world court had ordered Islamabad to carry out an effective “review and reconsideration” of his conviction.