India on Thursday accused Pakistan of stalling the process of providing legal assistance to death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav. In the weekly press briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs, official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said a petition to review the death sentence by a Pakistan military court could not be filed because of the absence of the documents that required Mr. Jadhav’s signature.
Also read: Pakistan did not allow free access to Kulbhushan Jadhav: India
“In the absence of an unimpeded and unhindered consular access as well as relevant documents, as a last resort, India tried to file a petition on July 18. However, our Pakistani lawyer informed that a review petition could not be filed in the absence of power of attorney and supporting documents related to the case of Shri Jadhav,” said Mr. Srivastava.
Mr. Jadhav was granted consular access on July 16 but the Indian official maintained that the Pakistan authorities had ‘scuttled’ the opportunity as they allegedly behaved in an intimidating manner during the meeting between Mr. Jadhav and two Indian diplomats from the mission in Islamabad.
Lawyer denied assistance
The official said the lawyer was appointed as per Pakistan’s directives which demanded that relevant documents could be handed over “only to an authorised Pakistani lawyer”. He said despite Pakistan’s assurances, the lawyer was denied assistance when he approached the authorities in Islamabad.
Also read: Kulbhushan Jadhav coerced into refusing appeal, says India
“Pakistan also created confusion over the last date of filing a petition. Initially, they indicated that a petition has to be filed by no later than July 19. Subsequently, it indicated that the time limit to file a review petition shall expire the next day,” said Mr. Srivastava alleging had Pakistan failed to live up to its commitment to provide consular access and assistance to the former navy official.
Mr. Srivastava said the whole exercise was ‘farcical’. “Pakistan has completely failed to provide the remedy as directed by the ICJ and India reserves its position in the matter, including its rights to avail of further remedies.”
