Newspapers in both India and Pakistan expressed jubilation after the International Court of Justice delivered its judgment in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case on Wednesday. Both adversaries perceived the scales of the judgment to be tipping in their respective favours.
While in India the stay on Jadhav’s death sentence and consular access were welcomed, Pakistani newspapers reported that victory was theirs.
Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune came out with the headline "ICJ Verdict Out: Pakistan Vindicated”, harping upon the point that the UN Court had rejected India’s plea to annul the military court's decision and release Kulbhushan Jadhav.
The Dawn carried a lead story headlined “ICJ rejects Indian's plea for Jadhav's acquittal and release."
The newspapers also featured comments of leaders like Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who hailed the decision a victory of Pakistan.
A column about the dissenting note drawn by Justice Tassaduq Hussein Jillani, former Pakistan Chief Justice and the only dissenting judge in the ICJ bench in Jadhav’s case, was also published in The Dawn.
"The Court should have found India's application to be inadmissible because its conduct amounted to abuse of rights,” the article quoted Justice Jillani.
The ad-hoc ICJ judge also wrote in his dissenting note that the Vienna Convention, for the violation of which Pakistan was held guilty, does not apply to espionage. The article further cited a 2008 agreement between India and Pakistan on consular access and national security.
Jillani has also dubbed the verdict as a "dangerous precedent", keeping national security and terrorist activities in mind, according to the report.
The papers also emphasised that the Court rejected India’s appeal that Jadhav was entitled to restitution in interim (restoration of original position).
On Wednesday, the ICJ announced its verdict on India’s petition challenging the death sentence given to Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistan military court in a closed trial.
The ICJ has allowed Jadhav consular access and asked Pakistan to have an “effective review and reconsideration of his conviction and sentences”.
The case was argued Pakistan Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan and lawyer Harish Salve on the Indian side.
After the verdict was released on Wednesday evening, news websites in Pakistan ran stories celebrating the ICJ’s dismissal of India’s plea for acquittal and release of Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Comments
0 comment