Pakistan’s National Assembly passes bill to give right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav

According to a media report, Pakistan's National Assembly has passed a government-backed law giving Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav the opportunity to appeal.

As per the report, the National Assembly passed the ICJ (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, 2020 on Thursday, which allows alleged Indian spy Jadhav consular access in accordance with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgement.

In April 2017, a Pakistani military court condemned Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, to death on allegations of espionage and terrorism.

India filed a complaint with the ICJ against Pakistan for denying consular access to Jadhav and appealing his death sentence.

In July 2019, the ICJ in The Hague ruled that Pakistan must conduct an "effective review and reconsideration" of Jadhav's conviction and sentence, as well as provide India consular access without delay. In its 2019 ruling, the ICJ asked Pakistan to create a proper forum for appeals against Jadhav's sentence.

Law Minister Farogh Nasim added that if the law had not passed, India would have gone to the UN Security Council and may have filed contempt proceedings against Pakistan in the International Court of Justice.

Nasim stated that the measure was passed in light of the ICJ's decision. He claimed that by passing the bill, Pakistan had demonstrated to the rest of the world that it was a "responsible state."

Twenty additional bills were also passed by the National Assembly, including the Elections (Amendment) Bill.

Three times the Opposition staged a walkout and cited a lack of quorum, but the chair proclaimed the house in order and proceeded with the business, causing the Opposition to resort to loud protest.

Members of the opposition gathered in front of the Speaker's podium and chanted slogans. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) legislator Ahsan Iqbal criticised the government's actions, pointing out that it had included the bill in a heavy parliamentary agenda to bring relief to Jadhav.

Iqbal stated that the bill was for a specific person, and that the name of Jadhav was mentioned in the law's Statement of Objects and Reasons.

He questioned why the bill was needed because the country's law permitted high courts to review sentences handed down by military courts.

The government had already put the law into effect by issuing an ordinance in May of last year, just after the ICJ's decision in Jadhav's case.

Despite significant opposition from Opposition parties, the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Law and Justice adopted the measure seeking a review of Jadhav's conviction on October 21 last year.

The parliament also saw a ruckus when Raja Pervez Ashraf of the Pakistan Peoples Party opposed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's claims that opposition members were toeing the Indian narrative by opposing the bill to grant relief to Jadhav, according to the publication.

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), requested that the speaker allow time for members to review the bills. He chastised the administration for first introducing an ordinance to provide relief to Jadhav and then bulldozing the bill through the legislature.

Nasim, the law minister, said he was surprised by the opposition's behaviour, and that it appeared that the opposition had not read the ICJ decision. He said that the ICJ had specifically requested that Pakistan pass legislation granting Jadhav the right to appeal.