Pakistan's law minister says new law prevented India's contempt petition before ICJ in Jadhav case

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Naseem said the bill passed by the joint sitting of parliament and related to Jadhav was “not person-specific rather it was a national security issue”.

The parliament passed the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, 2021 on Wednesday to provide for the right of review and reconsideration in the Jadhav case in line with the judgment of the ICJ.

“This was the red line for Pakistan. India would have gone to the ICJ and filed a contempt case against us if we had not enacted this law,” the minister said.

He said that by passing the law Pakistan “has prevented” India from filing a contempt case which was “called defiance” in the ICJ, and added that India could have moved the United Nations Security Council for imposing sanctions on Pakistan, Dawn reported.

Naseem criticised the opposition parties for politicising the issue and said they lacked the vision to differentiate between right and wrong.

India on Thursday rejected as ineffective the Pakistani law passed to give Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav the right to appeal against his conviction, in accordance with the directive of the International Court of Justice and said Islamabad has continued to deny unimpeded and unhindered consular access to the death row prisoner and failed to create an atmosphere in which a fair trial can be conducted.

India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, said that India has repeatedly called upon Pakistan to abide by the letter and spirit of the ICJ judgment.