Giving Kulbhushan Jadhav right to appeal won't affect his trial or conviction: AGP

• Khalid Jawed Khan says the right to appeal has been given to Kulbhushan Jadhav as per the ICJ's orders.
• Says India would have taken Pakistan to the ICJ and United Nations by building new cases.
• Says this would have led Pakistan to face sanctions by the international forums.

Attorney-General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan has said that giving Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav the right to appeal will not affect his trial or conviction.

In a conversation with Geo News, the attorney-general said that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) directed Pakistan to make amendments in the country's laws or pass new laws to give the spy the right to appeal.

"Giving Kulbhushan the right to appeal will not affect his trial or conviction. He has murdered innocent Pakistanis," the AGP said.

The attorney general further stated that if the government hadn't passed the bill for giving Kulbhushan the right to appeal, India would have dragged Pakistan into the ICJ and United Nations by building new cases.

Consequently, Pakistan would have had to face sanctions by international forums, he added.

Bill to give Indian spy right to review, reconsideration passed

The PTI-led government on Wednesday powered through the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, 2020, that allows the right to review and reconsideration to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, along with 32 other bills during a joint session of Parliament amid a strong protest by the Opposition and rigging claims during the counting.

The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says that the government of India initiated proceedings against Pakistan in the ICJ, concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963 ”in the matter of detention and trial of an Indian national, Commander Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav”, who had been sentenced to death by the Military Court in Pakistan in April 2017.

The ICJ gave its judgment on July 17, 2019, wherein it observed that “Pakistan is under an obligation to provide by means of its own choosing effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav, so as to ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth in Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, taking account of paragraphs 139, 145 and 146 of this judgment”.

Opposition to challenge bills 'at every forum'

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, following the passage of the bills on Wednesday, said the Opposition would challenge the bills passed in the lower house, as the government "did not have enough votes" to get them passed.

"The NRO to Kulbhushan Jadhav, election amendment bill, and all other bills will be challenged at every forum," Bilawal said, speaking to media outside Parliament.

'Blackest day'

Meanwhile, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said today it was the "blackest day" in the history of Parliament, expressing the hope that the courts would now uphold the constitution — in line with the Opposition's aims to challenge the bills in court.

The remarks came during a press conference in Islamabad where the joint Opposition lashed out at the government for bulldozing more than three dozen bills in a joint sitting of Parliament

Iqbal said that the passage of the bill related to Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav, in presence of the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, was a "blot" on the Parliament.

He went on to say that the government had given "an NRO" (referring to a concession under the National Reconciliation Ordinance) to the Indian spy by getting the International Court of Justice ICJ (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, 2021 passed.

Iqbal said any law made without consultation was not acceptable to the Opposition.