The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 17 declared by a majority verdict that Pakistan has violated the Vienna Convention and urged Islamabad to review and reconsider the judgment in the case of former Indian Navy official Kulbhushan Jadhav. The ICJ also rejected Pakistan’s objection to India’s application to the court to take up the issue of Mr. Jadhav who was given a death sentence by a military court in Pakistan in 2017.
“...By not informing Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav without delay of his rights under Article 36 paragraph 1(b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan breached the obligations incumbent upon itself under that provision,” stated the court in its observations on the case.
In a major vindication for India’s position in the case, the International Court of Justice said that Pakistan must inform Mr. Jadhav that he has the rights and Indian diplomats should get consular access to him.
The court said that Pakistan also violated the Vienna Convention as it did not grant consular access to Mr. Jadhav saying “By fifteen votes to one, [the court] finds that by not notifying the appropriate consular post of the Republic of India in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan without delay of the detention of Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav and thereby depriving the Republic of India of the right to render the assistance provided for by the Vienna Convention to the individual concerned... Pakistan has breached the obligations incumbent upon it under Article 36 paragraph 1(b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.”
The ICJ also called for compensation to be extended to Mr. Jadhav should be decided by Pakistan in view of the violation of the Article 36 of the Vienna Convention.
