The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan, giving him a temporary relief.
In a victory for India, which had moved the United Nation’s highest judicial body against the death sentence, the 11-judge bench led by ICJ President Ronny Abraham instructed Pakistan to take all “necessary measures at its disposal” to ensure that Jadhav was not executed pending a final decision by it.
The court rejected Pakistan’s argument that consular access guaranteed to foreign citizens under the Vienna convention signed by both the countries in 1977, did not apply as the 46-year old former Indian navy officer was charged with terrorism and espionage.
Judge Abraham said that the Vienna Convention had no express provisions excluding people charged with specific crimes from being denied their rights under the convention.
The court also ruled unanimously that India had the right to grant consular assistance to their citizens imprisoned overseas, and to protect the said citizens rights. Abraham added that the court need not at this stage see if the rights claimed by India existed, but must only decide if they were plausible.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed satisfaction with the judgment.
She also congratulated Senior Advocate Harish Salve, who represented India in the case.
With inputs from PTI.
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