Jadhav case: Ex CJP Tassaduq Jilani appointed ad-hoc judge at ICJ

ISLAMABAD: Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Jilani has been appointed ad-hoc judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to represent Pakistan’s side in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

As per reports, the government has made the appointment after due consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

The decision was endorsed by the prime minister who signed the summary confirming the appointment of Jilani as the ad-hoc judge in the case.

Under Article 13 of the International Court of Justice, Pakistan has the discretion to appoint an ad-hoc judge to defend its stance. The team of lawyers defending Pakistan’s side was previously led by lawyer Khawar Qureshi.

Justice Jillani is related to former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani. He was nominated to the Lahore High Court bench by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in the 1990s.

Earlier, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) representative Raheel Kamran Sheikh called the federal government to seek parliament’s support on it regarding the appointment of the new ad-hoc judge for the case.

Recently, a high-level meeting was held in Pakistan, along with Attorney General (AG) Ashtar Ausaf Ali, to discuss the further strategy and responses to India’s 22-page report submitted before the ICJ. In the meeting, representatives of the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Law and Justice, as well as other stakeholders, were present.

The Pakistan Army had also stated that it is close to a decision on Jadhav’s mercy petition and has good news for the people of Pakistan.

Kulbushan, India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent and naval officer 41558Z, alias ‘Hussein Mubarak Patel’ was arrested on March 3, 2016, through a counter-intelligence operation from Balochistan for his involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan,” the statement said. The spy has been tried through the military court and awarded death sentence.

Following the announcement of Jadhav’s death sentence, India approached the ICJ on May 18 against Jadhav’s sentence and the international court restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.