Remember Kulbhushan Jadhav, the ex-naval commander who is sentenced to death by the kangaroo courts of our neighbor, Pakistan? Well, it seems that he has got a breather, as the application filed by India before the International Court of Justice got approved by the ICJ bench, headed by President Rony Abraham.
In a crucial midnight order, passed on the plea submitted before the ICJ panel, the order to execute Kulbhushan Jadhav, whose arrest by Pakistani intelligence agents in Balochistan and subsequent imposition of an arbitrary death sentence is under heavy suspicion, has been placed under review, thereby putting the arbitrary execution order of Kulbhushan Jadhav on a temporary hold.
For starters, Kulbhushan Jadhav is an ex Indian Navy official, who mysteriously disappeared in Iran, while conducting his commercial transactions as a naval trader post retirement.
As per Indian sources and statements, he was abducted near the Iran Pakistan border, by March 2016, by the Taliban terrorists, who sold him to Pakistani intelligence at Balochistan, after which he was incarcerated presumably in Karachi, and sentenced to death within three months of the proceedings being opened in the military courts, throwing all legal proceedings to the wind.
This sentence is in clear violations of the Geneva Conventions, a set of rules that apply only in cases of armed conflict, and seek to protect those who are not involved at present in such hostilities, such as wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of the armed forces from all corners, prisoners of wars, and civilians etc.
Also, unlike what is being conveyed to us, there is no official imposition of a stay order on the death sentence. The sentence is put on hold for the next hearing, not stayed in legal terms, as noted by Mr. Debajyoti Das, a legal expert and CEO of legal tutor firm CLAT Possible, who is personally following this case through his well known contacts in the Information Office of the International Court of Justice.
What Republic TV, the first news channel in India to pick up on this matter, broadcasted, was this:-
What was actually processed as per the midnight order by the ICJ is under the following provision:-
“According to Section D, Incidental Proceedings, in the Subsection 1,
Article 74 states in Paragraph 4,
Pending the meeting of the Court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects.”
In this context, until the next hearing, scheduled to take place on Monday, 15th of May, Kulbhushan Jadhav’s execution is provisionally put on hold, since an execution is irreversible. However, until the hearing commences, Kulbhushan, if he is really alive, and incarcerated, will be breathing a huge sigh of relief.
Also, unlike what is being conveyed to us, there is no imposition of a stay order on the death sentence. The sentence is put on hold for the next hearing, not stayed in legal terms.
Our Minister of External Affairs, unofficially the ‘Superwoman’ for overseas Indians, Sushma Swaraj, has also confirmed about the case, adding a dose of crucial information as well:-
Yes, you heard that right. Harish Salve, the reputed lawyer known for his sharp intellect on legal issues, who controversially bailed out notorious actor Salman Khan in the infamous 2002 hit and run case, has taken this matter up, and is representing India. With a lawyer of such acumen, we hope that India achieves the much needed diplomatic victory that shuts down Pakistan with an iron hand.
Before we proceed further, let me tell you one thing. The game is not over as yet. Kulbhushan Jadhav, as well as the Indian government, has only got a breather, not the ultimate victory. However, the once passive attitude that India showed in such matters related to international matters, owing to which Captain Saurabh Kalia, who suffered a fate much, much worse than that of Kulbhushan, is yet to receive his due, even after 18 years of his brutal mutilation. Through this small step forward, it looks that the Indian government has turned over a new leaf. It is now upto Harish Salve, to convert this small step into a huge diplomatic and legal victory in the International Court of Justice.
Also, there is another notification that symbolizes the significance of Narendra Modi’s multiple visits abroad. Iran, where Kulbhushan worked before being allegedly abducted and sold to Pakistan intelligence, has requested a consular access to Kulbhushan to ascertain whether he is actually innocent or not, as per the Indian claims. After being threatened for punitive action for sponsoring cross border terrorism from their homeland, it will be interesting to see, whether Pakistan accedes to the same request which was rejected in the Indian context 17 times. Now Pakistan has to choose between the devil and the deep sea, and it will be a lot of fun, to be precise.
However, if there is someone who is really perturbed by the significant advantage that the Indian government has just taken over, it is without doubt the liberal cabal of Indian journalism. Beginning with the unofficial spokesperson for the Kashmiri terrorists and separatists, Miss Barkha Dutt, whose anguish on India’s advantage can be seen clearly in her tweet, as shown below:-
Not very far away was controversial journalist and separatist sympathizer, Nidhi Razdan, who mocked at the efforts of Harish Salve in this case. Judge for yourself, if I’m wrong:-
I understand that the pseudo liberals in our country have their own agenda to serve, but stooping this low to their agenda, inadvertently mocking at our nation’s legal capabilities: is this really permissible by any standard? I hope they’re taught a nice lesson by Mr. Salve through his work at ICJ.
All in all, the short hold on the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav is the second chance that India is finally receiving to right its wrongs on the international platform. If we manage to pull out Kulbhushan from the depths of misery he faces in Pakistan diplomatically, the entire team behind this fight, including Sushma Swaraj, and Harish Salve, shall be immortalized in the pages of Indian history. Let’s hope this comes true.