Pakistan's Attorney General to represent Kulbhushan Jadhav case at ICJ

Islamabad: Pakistani Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali has stated that he would represent the country at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case relating to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

According to a media report, Ausaf announced that the country’s defence against India’s case before the ICJ was prepared by the government in consultation with all stakeholders, including the military establishment.

Talking to The News on Friday, the Attorney Genral said that the lawyer who defended Pakistan's case before the ICJ has not only represented Pakistan in international arbitrations in the past, but was also cleared by the army and intelligence agencies to fight this highly-sensitive case.

Yesterday, the Pakistan government filed a plea in the International Court of Justice to rehear within six weeks the case of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court.

The Dunya News in its report said that Pakistan was set to re-challenge the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice after it granted injunction on Thursday on an Indian plea to stay Jadhav's execution.

According to law, Jadhav can challenge till the end of Saturday his death sentence in an appellate court. A military court sentenced him to death on April 10 on spying and terrorism charges.

Within 60 days of the verdict of the appellate court, the inmate can make a clemency appeal to the Chief of the Pakistan Army, Dunya said.

A death row inmate is permitted to make the final clemency appeal to the Pakistan President within 90 days of the Army chief's order.

In a majore setback to Pakistan, the ICJ on Thursday ordered the country to halt the execution of Jadhav until the final decision is announced in the proceedings.

This comes after the Pakistan government was slammed by the opposition parties back home saying "the verdict was a huge setback".