Kulbhushan Jadhav Case: Pakistan Violated Vienna Convention, ICJ Tells UN

Pakistan's making of the notification some three weeks after Jadhav's arrest constituted a breach of its obligation to inform India's consular post “without delay”, ICJ tells UN

Updated: October 31, 2019 1:59 PM IST

By India.com News Desk | Edited by Poulomi Ghosh

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New Delhi: The International Court of Justice has informed the UN General Assembly that Pakistan violated its obligations under the Vienna Convention in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case by denying consular access to India.

Justice president Judge Abduylqawi Yusuf said one of the issues that the Court had to examine was the question of whether the rights relating to consular access, set out in Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, were in any manner to be excluded in a situation where the individual concerned was suspected of carrying out acts of espionage.

“The Court noted in that regard that there is no provision in the Vienna Convention containing a reference to cases of espionage; nor does the Article concerning consular access, Article 36, exclude from its scope certain categories of persons, such as those suspected of espionage. Therefore, the Court concluded that Article 36 of the Vienna Convention was applicable in full to the case at hand,”

“Taking into account the particular circumstances of the Jadhav case, the Court noted that Pakistan’s making of the notification some three weeks after Mr Jadhav’s arrest constituted a breach of its obligation to inform India’s consular post “without delay”, as required by the provisions of the Vienna Convention,” he noted.

He further said that “another interesting legal question” that the Court had to address was whether a bilateral agreement on consular access concluded between the two Parties – India and Pakistan – in 2008 could be read as excluding the applicability of the Vienna Convention.

Despite ICJ verdict, Pakistan has been ruling out second consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

(With PTI inputs)

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