Pakistan’s Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill to give Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row, the right to appeal against his conviction, in accordance with the directive of the International Court of Justice.

A bill to provide for the right of review and reconsideration to bring into effect the judgment of the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case — The International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2020 -- was moved by Minister for Law and Justice Dr Muhammad Farogh Nasim in a joint session of the House.

The bill was passed with majority vote, UNI news agency said. 

The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says the Government of India initiated proceedings against Pakistan in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), concerning alleged violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963 ”in the matter of detention and trial of an Indian national, Commander Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav”, who had been sentenced to death by the Military Court in Pakistan in April 2017.

The ICJ gave its judgment on 17th July, 2019 in which it observed that “Pakistan is under an obligation to provide by means of its own choosing effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr Jadhav, so as to ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth in Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, taking account of paragraphs 139, 145 and 146 of this judgment”.

According to the Times of India, the issue is likely to remain deadlocked till Islamabad allows New Delhi to appoint a leader of its choice to represent Jadhav.