New Delhi: The Delhi High Court was on Tuesday approached for a direction to the Centre to seek the intervention of the International Court of Justice to get Kulbhushan Jadhav released from the custody of Pakistan military.
The PIL also requested the high court to ask the Ministry of External Affairs to constitute a policy on abducted or illegally detained Indians abroad. Petitioner Rahul Sharma claimed that an RTI filed in 2015 revealed that the ministry had no such policy.
This comes after Pakistan's Army on Monday ruled out consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, days after India had made a strong case for the access to the Indian prisoner on death row.
Jadhav, 46, was awarded death sentence by the Field General Court Martial last week, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out.
"Under the law we cannot give consular access to Khubhushan who was involved in spying," Pakistan Military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told reporters.
However, Indian officials in New Delhi maintained that there was no communication from Pakistan on the denial of consular access.
Pakistan has denied India's request for consular access to Jadhav over a dozen times in the last one year.
On Friday, Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad Gautam Bambawale had met Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and demanded a certified copy of the charge-sheet as well as the army court order in the Jadhav case, besides seeking consular access to the retired Indian navy officer.
India had acknowledged that Jadhav had served with the Navy but denied that he has any connection with the government.
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