Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Indian Navy official, has been sentenced to death by the military court of Pakistan. Pakistan has convicted Jadhav of espionage. While India has opposed this decision of Pakistan. India has told Jadhav to be innocent. In protest against Pakistan's decision, India had appealed in the International Court of Justice, after which the court had stayed the execution of the death sentence and said it was about keeping both sides from the two countries in this matter. Today the case is to be heard in the court.
Know what happened in this case so far?
Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016, due to illegal infiltration from Iran to Pakistan. Pakistan claimed that he was a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent. While Indian citizen Jadhav legally used to trade in Iran. Last year a video of Jadhav's alleged confession was also released by Pakistan. The video was questioned in different media reports. After the video was released, it was claimed that this 358-second video contained 102 cuts. Many experts claimed that the allegations forced by Jadhav were accepted.
Jadhav says in the video, he lived in Indian Navy until December 2001. Domestic Intelligence was mobilized after the attack on Parliament in India. After that, he joined the Indian Intelligence Service in 2003. Jadhav says that he was promoting terrorism in Iran from Balochistan to Iran.
Jadhav also said in the video that he had joined Raw in 2013. The Indian government had dismissed the alleged video and the allegations of Pakistan. Although the Indian government had confessed that Jadhav was an Indian citizen and had worked in the Indian Navy.
According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, Jadhav used to legally trade in Iran. They were harassed forcibly custody India had said that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran and Pakistan failed to tell how he came to Pakistan. India had sought the permission of the officers of the Indian agency in Pakistan, but the Government of Pakistan had rejected this demand of India. The Pakistani military court has convicted Jadhav of being involved in 'espionage and subversive activities' against the country.
Pakistan's military court sentenced Jadhav to hang on April 10. On 11th April, the Indian Home Minister and the External Affairs Minister claimed to bring Kulbhushan Jadhav back in Parliament. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that an innocent Indian citizen is being tried to be punished with wrong charges, it will consider India to be a planned killer. Sushma said that Kulbhushan is absolutely innocent and in every situation, the government will take steps to bring him back.
India sought 16 times permission to allow Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his diplomats, but Pakistan refused. On May 10, the International Court of Justice banned Kulbhushan's hanging. The International Court of Justice had decided to hear the case on May 15. The court appealed to both sides to keep their side.