By Special Correspondent
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice passed a government bill on Wednesday evening to investigate the conviction of Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a military court for alleged involvement in espionage.
Farogh Naseem, Minister of Law and Justice, told the members of the Committee that the bill, entitled “International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Order,” had been adopted in accordance with the guidelines of the International Court of Justice ( ICJ).
Naseem claimed that, in the event that the bill was not adopted by the Parliament, Pakistan faced potential penalties for failing to comply with the decision of the ICJ.
Naseem said that his ministry had tried to “prevent a potential Indian move” from filing a contempt petition against Pakistan in the ICJ by promulgating an ordinance, and clarified that neither India nor Jadhav had filed a petition before the Islamabad High Court seeking relief under the ICJ verdict.
He said that his ministry had to file a petition for the appointment of Jadhav’s counsel, which is awaiting adjudication.
Opposition parties opposed what they said was a bid to give relief to Jadhav, calling it an NGO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) to persons charged with espionage.
It is said that the NGO was set up by former President Pervez Musharraf to provide relief to politicians who had been charged during a time of military rule in Pakistan.
Aliya Kamran of the JUI-F group accused the Imran Khan administration of having legislated on behalf of New Delhi. She requested that the bill be addressed in public until it was approved.
In response to the criticism, Naseem argued before the Committee that India had been finding a way to lodge a plea of contempt with the ICJ against Pakistan. In such a situation, the country might face sanctions if the matter were referred to the United Nations Security Council, the Minister said.