India on Thursday appeared uninterested in securing relief for its spy from Pakistani courts, which resulted in a deadlock over the appointment of a defence lawyer for Kulbhushan Jadhav to plead his case before the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

An IHC larger bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, took up the petition filed by the Ministry of Law and Justice seeking appointment of defence counsel for Jadhav for review of his conviction in compliance with the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The bench observed that the judicial review in the Jadhav case would be a futile exercise if the Indian spy would not actively participate in the proceedings, adding that protecting rights of Commander Jadhav was of paramount importance for the court.

Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan informed court that pursuant to its order of Aug 3, the Pakistani government had formally approached the Indian Ministry for External Affairs and also contacted Jadhav over appointment of his defence counsel.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1577807/deadlock-in-appointment-of-defence-lawyer-for-indian-spy