IHC orders to give India another chance to appoint lawyer for Kulbhushan Jhadav

The Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court has ordered to give India another chance to appoint a lawyer to defend Kulbhushan Jhadav so that no doubt remains.

The apex court issued a written order seeking appointment of legal representative for Indian spy Kulbhushan Jhadav, in which the court directed the Indian government to appoint Kulbhushan Yadav’s lawyer till the next hearing.

A larger bench of the Islamabad High Court comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the federal government’s request for the appointment of a lawyer for Kulbhushan Jhadav.

During the hearing, Attorney General Khalid Javed argued that Kulbhushan Jhadav did not want to exercise his right of appeal and letters had been written to the Indian embassy in this regard.

The Attorney General told the court that the government of Pakistan had informed India and Kulbhushan Jhadav of the orders of the Islamabad High Court on August 6, 2020, but the federal government had not yet received any response from India.

He further said that even Kulbhushan Jhadav did not change his decision not to appoint a legal representative which made it seem that India wanted to embarrass Pakistan.

The Attorney General said that India also did not want to take advantage of the facility provided to Kulbhushan Jhadav for legal assistance.

During the hearing, he said that India was running away from the decision of the International Court of Justice and that is why a month had passed but no response was given.

The Attorney General told the court that Pakistan’s actions are in line with the decision of the International Court of Justice, we have two possibilities, one is that the court appoints a legal representative or we wait for India’s response.

Khalid Javed said that India did not respond to the offer to appoint Kulbhushan as a lawyer under the ordinance. Pakistan gave Consular access for the third time but Kulbhushan Jhadav refused.

He further said that India has no interest in fighting the case but the government of Pakistan still wants India or Kulbhushan Jhadav to appoint a legal representative himself.