Snehal Upadhyay-
Ministry of external affairs (MEA) said that the International Court of Justice (Review & Reconsideration) Bill, 2020 which was passed by the Pakistan National Assembly last week has shortcomings and recommends reviewing the bill.
India also condemned Pakistan for passing the bill with so many shortcomings hence recommended reviewing the bill.
The bill which is passed by the lower house gives foreign national convicts by military courts the right to file an appeal before a high court and to also file a petition regarding consular access, all these rights weren’t there before for any person who was convicted by the Pakistan military court.
These were the recommendations given by the International court of justice after making notes on how the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav was mishandled.
Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs said that “The bill has a provision for inviting the municipal court to decide whether any prejudice has been caused to Jadhav on account of the failure to provide consular access in accordance with a verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). We call upon Pakistan to take steps to address the shortcomings in the Bill.”
The bill made the municipal Courts of Pakistan to decide whether or not any prejudice had been caused to Jadhav on account of the failure in providing consular access.
On this, Arindam Bagchi also said that it was clearly a breach of the basic tenet that municipal courts cannot be the arbiter of whether a state fulfilled its obligations in international law.