How Opposition Congress reacted on ICJ verdict on Kulbhushan Jadhav case

The Opposition Congress on Wednesday welcomed the verdict of the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, terming the judgment a big victory for India. "We welcome the ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jhadhav case. This is a big win for India & we will continue to pray for his early return," the Congress wrote on Twitter.

Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram also hailed the ICJ verdict, saying that the World Court upheld human rights and rule of law in its judgment. "ICJ delivers ‘justice’ in the true sense of that word, upholding human rights, due procedure and the rule of law. A 15:1 verdict is actually a unanimous verdict," senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said.

The ICJ, in a 15:1 judgment, ruled that Pakistan must review the death sentence awarded to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism".

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Delivering the verdict, ICJ Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf slammed Pakistan for violating the Vienna Convention by not allowing India to have access to Kulbhushan Jadhav. Judge Yusuf said, “Pakistan deprived India of the right to communicate with and have access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal representation and thereby breached obligations incumbent upon it under Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.”

Pakistan had unsuccessfully argued that Article 36 of the VCCR does not apply to people involved in espionage. The Court said that the execution of Jadhav will remain suspened until "effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence". The World Court, however, rejected India's remedies in the case, including annulment of the military court decision and Jadhav's return to India.