Pakistan army court sentences Kulbhushan Jadhav to death; India slams move

ISLAMABAD | NEW DELHI: A Pakistan military court has sentenced Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav to death after he was convicted of “espionage and sabotage activities”, prompting New Delhi to warn Islamabad that it is a case of “premeditated murder”. The trial proceedings that led to the capital punishment for Jadhav were also described by India as “farcical”.

The award of the death sentence to the 46-year-old former Naval officer at a court-martial was confirmed by Pakistan’s army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday and is expected to further deteriorate already strained Indo-Pak ties that were hit after the deadly attacks in Pathankot and Uri by Pakistanbased terrorists last year.

Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar summoned Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit and handed over the strongly worded diplomatic demarche on Monday.


“If this sentence against an Indian citizen, awarded without observing basic norms of law and justice, is carried out, the government and people of India will regard it as a case of premeditated murder,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Jadhav was kidnapped last year from Iran and his subsequent presence in Pakistan was never explained credibly.

“The Government of India, through its high commission in Islamabad, has repeatedly sought consular access to him, as provided for by international law. Requests to that effect were formally made 13 times between March 25, 2016 and March 31, 2017. This was not permitted by the Pakistani authorities,” the MEA said.

The proceedings that have led to the sentencing are farcical in the absence of any credible evidence against him, it said. “It is significant that our high commission was not even informed that Jadhav was being brought to trial. Senior Pakistani figures have themselves cast doubt about the adequacy of evidence. The claim in the ISPR release that Shri Jadhav was provided with a defending officer during the so-called trial is clearly absurd in the circumstances,” the MEA said.

ISPR, or the Inter-Services Public Relations, is Pakistani military’s publicity wing. The Pakistani military said Jadhav had been sentenced to death for waging war against Pakistan.

“Yadav been tried through field general court martial (FGCM) under Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and awarded death sentence. On Monday, chief of army staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, has confirmed his death sentence awarded by FGCM,” the ISPR statement said.

(Inputs from PTI)