'Pakistan violated Vienna Convention in Kulbhushan case'

Kulbhushan Jadhav. File pic

New York: Pakistan violated its obligations under the Vienna Convention in the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, International Court of Justice (ICJ) president Judge Abduylqawi Yusuf informed the UN General Assembly.

Presenting the annual report of the ICJ during the 74th session of the UNGA, Yusuf on Wednesday informed about the verdict of Jadhav case on July 17. He said the court told Pakistan that it should follow the Vienna Convention to its entirety and should examine "possible prejudice" caused by the violation are fully examined. "In its judgment, the court found that Pakistan had violated its obligations under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention and that appropriate remedies were due in this case," said Yusuf.

Abduylqawi Yusuf

Jadhav, 49, was purportedly "arrested" from Balochistan by Pakistani security forces on March 3, 2016, after he allegedly entered the country from Iran as claimed by Islamabad. India has rejected Pakistan's allegations about Jadhav's involvement in spying and subversive activities and said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar where he was running a business. It was on March 25, 2016, 22 days after the actual arrest, that then Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry had informed the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad of Jadhav's "arrest." Since then, Pakistan has not offered any explanation as to why Islamabad took over three weeks to inform the Indian High Commissioner about Jadhav's arrest.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on April 11, 2017. Following this, India on May 8, 2017, approached the ICJ against Pakistan "for egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963" in the matter. India alleged that Pakistan is in breach of Article 36(1) (b) of the Vienna Convention, which obliged Pakistan to inform India of the arrest of Jadhav "without delay". On the delay in informing, Yusuf said that Pakistan making the notification of Jadhav arrest "constituted a breach of its obligation to inform India's consular post 'without delay', as required by the provisions of the Vienna Convention."

Mar 3
Day in 2016 when Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates