Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Pakistan to defy ICJ order? Home Minister says Indian will be tried as per Pak laws

New Delhi: Two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Pakistan to halt for now the death sentence of Kulbhushan Jadhav, Islamabad on Saturday announced that it would try the Indian national as per Pakistan's laws.

“Pakistan will handle Kulbhushan Jadhav's case as an espionage case,” The News quoted Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan as saying.

Talking to media in Warsak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Nisar said, Jadhav case would be taken to its logical conclusion in accordance with the law of the land.

Earlier, while addressing a passing out parade of Frontier Core, Nisar had reiterated the claim that Jadhav was a spy and was involved in subversive activities. “So, Pakistan would treat him (Jadhav) according to law of the land,” Daily Pakistan quoted Nisar as saying.

Pakistan had on Friday filed a plea in the ICJ for it to rehear within six weeks the case of Jadhav, after the government was slammed by the opposition for "mishandling" the case at the world court.

Earlier, a media report had claimed that Pakistani Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali would represent the country at the ICJ.

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.

Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz earlier said that the ICJ did not order Pakistan to provide consular access to Jadhav, but has merely put forward an opinion. He said a decision to provide consular access to Jadhav is yet to be made.

"Pakistan's security is so important and we have to maintain our fundamental sovereign right," he had said.

According to Islamabad, Jadhav was reportedly arrested from Pakistan's Balochistan province on March 3, 2016. However, Indian intelligence agencies suspect that Jadhav was abducted from the Iran-Pakistan border.

Pakistan alleged that the former Indian Navy officer was involved in spying and terror activities in Balochistan. He was convicted in April by a Pakistani military court and sentenced to death.

(With Agency inputs)